Seed industry innovation should be advanced in multiple aspects, from multiple angles, and at multiple levels

When innovation is mentioned, it always brings to mind a wealth of positive energy. Speaking in general terms, no one would express disapproval of innovation; yet when it comes to specific innovative events or issues, due to ingrained ways of thinking, traditional habits of doing things, and the entanglement of vested interests, people often make the opposite choice. Traditional and habitual forces always set up thresholds step by step and apply pressure layer by layer against innovation. Therefore, we always see a rather paradoxical social phenomenon: whenever innovation is involved, there are many who talk eloquently about it, and also many who merely pay lip service to it while actually fearing it.

In the seed industry, people often believe that only scientific research and breeding constitute innovation, while everything else is just implementation and operation, but this is a very narrow-minded perception. What is innovation? Innovation is multi-faceted, multi-angled, and multi-layered; innovation permeates everywhere and exists everywhere. New ideas, new methods, new materials, new characteristics, new combinations, new applications, new environments, and so on can all be innovation; from grand disruptive thinking, to integrated innovation that draws on the strengths of many, to small improvements in details, these are all innovation; the exploration and application of new scientific research methods is innovation, the cultivation and improvement of new varieties is innovation, progress in the production and processing procedures and techniques of seeds is innovation, and the enhancement of marketing and services in the seed industry is also innovation; breeding "Zhengdan 958" and "Xianyu 335" is innovation, promoting the concept and methods of value marketing in the seed industry is innovation, and promoting single-seed sowing methods and mechanized grain harvesting in China is even more so innovation.

⟦NL> In summary, innovation is the operation of using extraordinary ideas, methods, materials, and so on to meet the unmet needs of users or consumers and bring new value to participants in the industry chain.

However, innovation cannot fall from the sky out of nowhere; innovation has clear constraints and conditions for its generation.

First, innovation is the unconventional and novel approach in ways of thinking and angles, not sticking to convention, not playing by the usual rules, and often it is a challenge to or even a subversion of mainstream perceptions and traditional habits. Therefore, innovators are often suppressed by mainstream consciousness. The iPhone, Tesla, Uber, Taobao, WeChat, and so on are all the best examples. Precisely because of this, if our society is to truly encourage innovation, it needs respect for individualized differences, listening to different voices, tolerance for "heretical views," and even tolerance for mistakes. There is no such thing as successful innovation that has not gone through repeated exploration and countless failures. Killing individuality and wiping out heterodoxy will thoroughly kill innovation as well.

Second, innovation requires fairness in institutional design. The traditional scientific research system lets researchers in research institutes eat from the "imperial grain," bear zero risk, enjoy research funding and commissions from "achievement transformation," and compete without bottom lines against private enterprises that stake their lives in the market. This institutional design has fundamental flaws and severely restricts the healthy development of the seed industry. The core of China's seed industry scientific research system reform is to return to institutional fairness; only in this way can the enthusiasm of all social resources be fully mobilized.

Third, innovation needs the support of a corresponding legal and policy system. The direction of variety approval must not deviate from the needs of the industry, and the long four-year approval cycle is far behind the pace of industrial development. Due to the intertwining of perspectives, levels of understanding, and interests, there are disagreements between personnel within the approval system and the industry. This thinking that ignores the laws of industrial and economic development and stubbornly adheres to the traditional approval system has greatly delayed the speed of China's seed industry development.

Fourth, innovation requires protection by an intellectual property system. Strengthening the protection of new plant variety rights is protecting innovative thinking and innovative talent. At present, in China's seed industry, counterfeit labeling runs rampant and piracy is severe, which has severely dampened the enthusiasm of innovators, harmed farmers' interests, and disrupted industry order. In some places, the "revenue generation" approach of competent departments that substitutes fines for regulation, local protectionism where each does things their own way, and indifferent inaction all encourage the unhealthy trends of counterfeit labeling and piracy, intentionally or unintentionally actually serving as the "protective umbrella" for various acts of theft.

Finally, innovation requires the courage to constantly negate oneself and restraint regarding one's own interests. Due to different development characteristics at different stages and limitations in levels of understanding, strategies that were once effective can become outdated, catalysts that once were can become stumbling blocks, and innovators of the past can also become those who fall behind. The evaluation of innovative thinking and innovative practice should not be rejected merely because it does not conform to existing regulations and habits, should not be abandoned because it conflicts with one's own professional understanding, and should certainly not be blacklisted because it conflicts with the interests of one's unit or oneself. Innovation is the most important driving force for advancing the industry and society. Whether innovation holds and whether it is reasonable does not depend on the likes or dislikes of judges, does not depend on official certificates, and does not depend on innovators' own statements. Innovation is measured by users' acceptance, influence on the industry, and the value created for participants in the industry chain, whether that value is present or future, clear or potential, tangible or intangible.

The formation and development of an innovation culture requires the understanding, support, and active participation of the whole society. At the same time, true innovation will constantly challenge traditional thinking, the established order, and popular culture; it will always test our wisdom, test our breadth of mind, and even more test our fairness.