Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development: unified variety approval for major crops across the three regions
A reporter learned from the Beijing Municipal Seed Management Station that, in order to promote the extension and application of excellent new crop varieties in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, in 2015 the agricultural departments of the three regions jointly issued the "Opinions on Establishing an Integrated Crop Variety Approval Mechanism for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei." While retaining the independent approval of crop varieties by Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, the agricultural administrative departments of the three provinces and municipalities jointly determined the trial groups, trial plans, and variety approval standards for the corresponding regions of major crops such as rice, wheat, and corn, and implemented unified approval.
It is understood that variety trial approval implements a system of rotating chairmanship among the three provinces and municipalities. Candidate varieties are jointly recommended by the seed management (general) stations of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. For varieties that pass approval, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Integrated Variety Approval Committee issues approval certificates, and the agricultural administrative departments of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei jointly issue announcements for extension and application within the approval scope of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei.
In order to implement the spirit of the "Opinions," in 2015 the seed management stations of the three provinces and municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei organized regional trials of wheat and summer-sown corn varieties, joint displays of wheat and corn, and regionalized trial demonstrations of grain and vegetable crop varieties in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Among them, the regional trials of summer-sown corn varieties were chaired by the Beijing Municipal Seed Management Station, and the regional trials of wheat varieties were chaired by the Hebei Provincial Seed Station.
Not long ago, the Beijing Municipal Seed Management Station, the Tianjin Municipal Seed Management Station, and the Hebei Provincial Seed Management General Station jointly held the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei New Corn Variety Observation Meeting. Taking corn as the entry point, this conference promoted the extension and application of new corn varieties in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region by building a regional trial recommendation platform for new corn varieties in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, providing more effective experience for coordinated development and cooperation in the seed industry of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei.
During the conference, participating representatives inspected the trial, display, and demonstration sites of new corn varieties in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in Daxing District and Tongzhou District of Beijing, Jixian County and Wuqing District of Tianjin, and Gu'an and Botou of Hebei. Through 3 days of observation, participants believed that cooperation and exchanges among the three provinces and municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei in variety management broke through administrative regional limitations, provided convenience for selecting excellent varieties nearby in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and would greatly promote the coordinated development of the seed industry in the three provinces and municipalities.