Science and technology become the driving force for safeguarding food security

Agriculture is the foundation of a nation, and grain is the foundation of agriculture. “Grain” is the way of survival and the way of development. Every single grain of rice and every single meal bears on the safety of the nation and the happiness of the people. Facing the new situation in the development of our country's agricultural production, only by making science and technology the “driving force” of food security can we take control of the “lifeblood” of food security and hold the “red line” of food security. (November 22, People's Daily Online)

In the series of articles titled “Xi Jinping and the Fourteenth Major Strategy of the ‘13th Five-Year Plan’”, the strategy of “storing grain in the land and storing grain in technology” was clearly put forward, changing our country's long-standing habit of storing grain in warehouses, storing grain among the people, and making up for shortages with abundant harvests, holding firmly to the red line of farmland, relying on science and technology to increase income, and ensuring that grain is basically self-sufficient and that staple food is absolutely safe. This is a major strategic decision made after comprehensively considering our country's future grain supply and demand pattern and the carrying capacity of agricultural resources and the environment.

“The state takes the people as its foundation, and the people take food as their heaven.” Food security is an important part of national security. Grain is not a simple commodity; it is the foundation of price stability, market stability, and social harmony and stability. As a large country with a population of 1.3 billion, ensuring food security has always been a long-term and fundamental issue. How can food security be guaranteed? General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that food security has always been a “number one under heaven” issue, that the way out for food security lies in science and technology, that science and technology are an important support for agricultural modernization, that scientific development is a basic feature of modern agriculture, and that grain production should broadly benefit from the application of agricultural science and technology and should store grain in technology. All of this reflects the General Secretary's degree of attention to the issue of food security.

In the long run and in fundamental terms, science and technology are the fundamental way out for solving the grain problem. Looking across the history of agricultural development, science and technology have always been the main source of momentum for agricultural and rural development. From traditional agriculture to modern agriculture, every stage of development has been driven by science and technology and marked by technological change; breakthroughs in and widespread use of technologies such as agricultural machinery, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, irrigation, and improved seeds have driven a substantial increase in agricultural productivity worldwide.

“Storing grain in technology” is an inevitable choice for grain production. The General Secretary emphasized that the key to agricultural modernization lies in scientific and technological progress, that agriculture must be given the wings of science and technology, and that the construction of a technological system adapted to the requirements of high-yield, high-quality, high-efficiency, ecological, and safe agricultural development must be accelerated. How can science and technology become the “driving force” of food security? In the author's view, first, new innovative management models for science and technology projects for bumper grain harvests must be continuously explored. The linkage mechanism must continue to be strengthened, close ties among relevant departments must be enhanced, the enthusiasm of all demonstration levels must be fully mobilized, and a joint force to promote bumper grain harvest work must be formed. Second, new ideas and new methods for grain production must be sought, and integrated innovation and demonstration of key technologies must be effectively carried out. With improving production capacity, transforming the development model, and increasing industrial benefits at the core, grain science and technology must be researched and developed, scientific and technological means must be used to maintain the balance of grain supply and demand, and the approach of applying one generation, reserving one generation, and developing one generation must be adhered to, always maintaining the continuity of scientific and technological capability. Third, the path of sustainable development through scientific and technological innovation must be adhered to. Sustainable development must be made the ultimate goal of agricultural scientific and technological innovation, the sustainable use of resources must be adhered to, the potential of existing resources and technologies must be tapped to the greatest extent, the relationship between grain production development and resource protection must be coordinated, a support and guarantee system for sustainable development must be established, and a series of sustainable development technologies must be researched, so that the light of science and technology illuminates sustainable grain production, illuminates comprehensive moderate prosperity, and provides even stronger momentum for realizing the “Two Centenary Goals”.