A Record of the Reform, Innovation and Development of Our Nation's Seed Industry
Editor's Note: Grain is the foundation of the state, and the seed industry is the foundation of grain. China's seed industry started from nothing at the beginning of the founding of New China, and through decades of unremitting efforts, it has continued to develop and grow through shared endeavor. Especially since entering the new century, China's seed industry, under external pressure from international competition and internal challenges of transforming the growth model and adjusting the structure, has continuously reformed and innovated, pressing forward into deep-water areas, gradually breaking through the shackles of systems and mechanisms, and radiating new vitality and brilliance. An in-depth analysis of the course of seed industry reform and development not only profoundly reflects the great process of China's agricultural modernization, but also vividly embodies the hardships and efforts of China's comprehensive deepening of reform, possessing unique typical significance and distinct contemporary value.
A single seed can change a world. In the long river of time, from the moment the first seed was sown, humanity began to move from gathering to farming, and since then, agriculture and cultivation have become the most important production activities.
As worldly affairs change and the years pass, the importance of seeds has become ever more evident. Whether looking longitudinally at the arduous development course of China's seed industry over several decades, or looking laterally at the glorious history of the seed industry in Western developed countries, the seed industry has become the carrier of advanced agricultural science and technology, the starting point of the value chain, and an advanced representative of a country's level of agricultural science and technology development.
The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the development of the seed industry and have successively issued major policy measures to advance seed industry reform. Leading comrades of the Central Committee have also pointed out the direction for the reform and development of the seed industry on many occasions. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we must resolve to build up the nation's seed industry, promptly cultivate superior varieties with independent intellectual property rights, and safeguard national food security from the source.
The nation's seed industry, bearing heavy trust and expectations, has forged ahead in the tide of comprehensive deepening of reform in all fields, achieving one proud accomplishment after another. Over the past few years, China's breeding capacity has improved markedly, and independently bred varieties have supported national food security; over the past few years, the seed industry has become a “sunrise” industry in national economic development, with capital, talent and other factors pouring in; over the past few years, good varieties have continued to emerge, farmers have harvested more grain from the same land, and the Chinese people's rice bowl has been held more firmly. Over the past several months, reporters have gone deep into enterprise workshops, entered research institutes, and stepped into fields and farmhouses, listening to experts and officials discuss their thoughts on seed industry reform, seeing the gains of breeding researchers in tackling varieties, and savoring the joy of farmers harvesting more grain by using good seeds. A clearly visible path toward the “dream of a strong seed industry nation” unfolded at the reporters' pens.
Resolving deep-seated contradictions, releasing greater dividends, and advancing seed industry reform in depth
The great task of stabilizing grain and securing the nation, the requirement to transform the growth model, the pressure of international competition…… the nation's seed industry has reached a critical juncture of transformation and upgrading, where it must advance or fall back, and urgently needs a completely new transformation
“We have the world's largest population, the largest-scale agriculture, and the richest germplasm resources, and we should also have the world's highest-level agricultural science and technology and the most competitive modern breeding industry.” Premier Li Keqiang's requirement was very clear.
In fact, after the founding of New China, the seed industry went through a course from nothing to something and from small to large. Over more than 30 years of reform and opening up, the history of China's seed industry development has been a history of reform, going through the historical stages of farmers saving their own seeds, unified planned seed supply, industrialized development, and modernization, and gradually realizing a historic leap from seeds to the seed industry. In particular, the implementation of the Seed Law in 2000 brought fundamental changes to China's seed industry development and marked that the seed industry truly began to move toward marketization and industrialization.
However, while the nation's seed industry made considerable progress, competitive pressure from the international arena also increased day by day. From the beginning of this century, the American corn variety “Xianyu 335” gathered momentum in one stroke and swept in. Why is the foreign seed industry so strong? How should the nation's seed industry improve its innovation capacity? “The selection and breeding of one variety takes nearly 10 years. What is being used now is the result of scientific and technological support from 10 years ago. If we do not make the nation's seed industry bigger and stronger now, what will we do 10 years from now?” Chen Wenfu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, once said with deep concern.
At that time, the core problem facing the seed industry was that variety innovation capacity was not strong. The breeding science and technology of multinational seed companies had already fully entered the “molecular era,” while most of China was still in the traditional breeding stage of “staring with the eyes, kicking with the feet, one ruler and one steelyard”; foreign breeding models were already operating in a “factory-like” manner, producing new varieties in batches, while China still produced through “research groups” and “small workshops,” and new variety research and development was more like “buying a lottery ticket.”
But contrary to this, China has the world's largest breeding workforce, and the level and quantity of results have already approached world-class levels. Yet many of these results were shelved after papers were published and professional titles were evaluated, and were called “results in iron cabinets.”
At the same time, the pressure to ensure national food security was increasing day by day, and the requirement to transform the growth model and adjust the structure was becoming more urgent, both placing higher demands on agriculture, especially the seed industry. Vice Premier Wang Yang emphasized that under China's ever-increasing constraints on resources and the environment, and in increasingly fierce international competition, we must effectively highlight the foundational, strategic and core industrial status of the seed industry and build a strong seed industry nation.
The nation's seed industry reached a critical juncture of seeking opportunity amid crisis, where it must advance or fall back, and urgently needed a new transformation to resolve deeper entanglements of contradiction and release greater reform dividends. Deepening the reform of the seed industry's systems and mechanisms and improving its innovation capacity were extremely urgent.
In 2011, the State Council issued the “Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Modern Crop Seed Industry.” This opinion, known in the industry as “Document No. 8,” became the most important programmatic and guiding document for seed industry development in recent years. Subsequently, in 2012 and 2013, the General Office of the State Council successively issued the “National Plan for the Development of the Modern Crop Seed Industry (2012-2020)” and the “Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Seed Industry System and Improving Innovation Capacity,” among others. A series of important documents were issued intensively with powerful force, and the curtain rose on deepening seed industry reform.
These reform documents gave clear guidance on the development direction and realization paths of the nation's seed industry for a period to come, proposed for the first time the strategic concept of building a “strong seed industry nation,” and explicitly required “taking enterprises as the main body,” with enterprises playing a leading role in commercial breeding, while research institutions would gradually transform toward basic, frontier and public-interest research, leveraging the advantages of both and realizing dual-wheel drive.
“To deepen the reform of the seed industry system, we must adhere to a problem-oriented approach, break down the ‘barriers’ hindering seed industry development, focus on solving the problem of the ‘two separate skins’ of seed industry innovation and agricultural production, and accelerate the cultivation of breakthrough new varieties urgently needed for production.” Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu pointed out.
Reform became a consensus, and a cross-departmental and cross-field policy support system and organizational system were built. Financial departments at all levels increased investment to support resource discovery, variety cultivation, technology research and development, seed production, and the capacity building of management departments; financial and taxation departments issued loan and tax preferential policies to support enterprise development. At the same time, at the national level, an inter-ministerial coordination group for modern seed industry development was established, sorting the tasks of seed industry reform into 51 specific measures, decomposing them to 19 relevant ministries and units for concrete implementation, with monthly analysis and bimonthly scheduling, ensuring that every policy measure had an outcome and everything made progress.
The nation's seed industry, bearing the heavy responsibility of stabilizing grain and securing the nation and riding the momentum of reform to tackle hard problems, advanced in depth toward a new historical journey.
Research institutions should do addition and subtraction to solve the “two separate skins” of innovation and production
Through reform of equity ratios, scientific research achievement trading platforms, and other means, stimulate enthusiasm for innovation and strengthen basic public-interest service capacity and level; through “decoupling of institutions and enterprises” and other means, reduce their interference in market fairness and withdraw from the commercial field
“Research institutions should focus on improving the basic public-interest service capacity and level of the seed industry, consolidate the foundation of seed industry innovation, and provide an inexhaustible source of science and technology for enterprises' innovative breeding.” Vice Minister of Agriculture Yu Xinrong said.
Around this goal, research institutions on the one hand did addition, strengthening their basic, frontier and public-interest research; on the other hand did subtraction, returning matters in commercial and competitive fields to the market and handing them to enterprises.
The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences is the national-level agricultural research institution with the largest scale, the most complete disciplines, and the strongest comprehensive research strength. “The level of basic research determines the future height of the seed industry.” Chen Mengshan, Party secretary of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said, “Big data, information technology, biological omics technology and so on, many major needs in research are cross-regional and cross-disciplinary. These all require strong technical forces and stable investment, and must be undertaken by the state.”
One day in August last year, in an ordinary small courtyard of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, a special “trade fair” wrote a heavy stroke in the history of seed industry development: the National Seed Industry Scientific and Technological Achievements Property Rights Trading Platform was launched. On that day, 9 transactions were signed, including the transfer of the three-line matching hybrid seed production method for “Jingke 968,” and the transfer of the development and utilization business license for corn 3KSNP marker, with a total transaction amount exceeding 30 million yuan.
Scientific research achievements can be “cashed in,” but rights also need to be “confirmed.” Since last year, three ministries including the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Finance have implemented a pilot reform of equity ratios for seed industry scientific research achievements in 4 central research institutions. The core is that individual researchers will receive direct returns from achievements, and the proportion will be no less than 40 percent.
The Institute of Crop Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences is one of the 4 pilot units. They issued a detailed plan to implement and advance it, and classified specific equity ratios according to funding sources, making it more fair. For example: for achievements obtained with support from state financial funds, the individual share is 50%, while for achievements obtained with personal funding, the individual share can be as high as 70%. At the same time, it explicitly stipulates that the intellectual property-related rights and interests enjoyed by researchers will not be lost due to changes in work unit or position.
“The reform of seed industry equity ratios fundamentally mobilized the innovation enthusiasm of researchers, and also guided scientific research achievements to combine with market demand, making them more grounded.” Wan Jianmin, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told reporters. According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, the 4 pilot units have sorted out 635 seed industry scientific research achievements, confirmed rights to 391 achievements for scientific and technical personnel, among which a total of 17 scientific research achievements underwent rights-confirmed transactions, with a transaction amount reaching 77.37 million yuan. The China National Rice Research Institute produced a total of 90 achievements including patents and variety rights in 2014, double the previous year.
While doing a good job in addition, the reform also requires research institutions to do subtraction in the commercial field, requiring them to “achieve ‘decoupling of institutions and enterprises’ with the seed enterprises they run before the end of 2015.”
As the decoupling “deadline” approaches, many enterprises run by research institutions are undergoing this kind of “labor pain.” However, for the Xiangtan City Institute of Agricultural Sciences, the first in Hunan Province to complete the decoupling of institutions and enterprises after the issuance of the “Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Seed Industry System and Improving Innovation Capacity,” it was the beginning of a win-win situation. “The funding given by the finance department is less than one third.” Director Liu Weiying said that the institute now evaluates the fixed assets of its subordinate enterprises and the rice varieties with exclusive development rights as equity, attracting external funds to form a new company. “By living off property rights and carrying out shareholding reform, the original asset effect has been amplified.”
“Enterprises originally run by research institutions are like pothos wrapped around a tree. Decoupling will bring short-term shrinkage, but only after labor pain can there be new hope.” Zhang Jianyong, deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial Agriculture Committee, believed that “public-interest research institutes running enterprises is a directional problem that prevents enterprises from becoming large and strong. It will also hinder a fundamental improvement in seed market order.”