Potato variety breeding accelerated to support staple food product and industry development
On March 2, Vice Minister of Agriculture Yu Xinrong visited the Institute of Vegetables and Flowers of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences to investigate the breeding of varieties for potato staple food products and industry development, and held a symposium to hear about research progress. Yu Xinrong stressed that confidence in the development of potato as a staple food must be firm, that efforts must target the international frontier and industry needs, that scientific and technological innovation must be intensified, that new breakthroughs must be made in the breeding of improved varieties, that the pace of industrialisation must be accelerated, and that national food security must be further safeguarded, farmers' incomes increased, and the people's nutritional and health needs met.
Yu Xinrong successively visited the greenhouses, tissue culture rooms and laboratories of the Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, where he examined and learned in detail about potato virus-free technology and mini seed potatoes, variety materials for potato staple food products, potato cultivation techniques, potato genomics research and molecular breeding, and he showed great concern for the breeding of varieties for potato staple food products. According to researcher Zhang Zhonghua, potato cross-breeding usually takes more than 10 years; in order to accelerate the breeding of varieties for potato staple food products, using molecular breeding technology to improve the traits of potato varieties can greatly shorten the breeding period. Yu Xinrong was very pleased to hear this. He pointed out that the development of potato staple food products and the industry has been placed at a strategic and overall level, that the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has clear thinking, definite goals and effective measures, and that the results are exciting; scientific and technological innovation and joint collaboration must be further strengthened to achieve new breakthroughs in supporting technologies such as breeding, planting and processing.
After hearing the report on potato breeding innovation, Yu Xinrong stressed that the potato is both a grain and a vegetable, and also a nutritious food, with huge production and consumption potential. China ranks first in the world in both potato planting area and output, and the in-depth advancement of the development of potato staple food products and the industry provides a rare development opportunity for revitalising the potato industry; potato scientific research and innovation must be comprehensively promoted, the pace of variety breeding accelerated, and more staple food product varieties with high yield, high starch content, strong stress resistance and rich nutritional components must be cultivated, while research must integrate supporting high-yield and high-efficiency production and processing models, striving to be world-class in basic research and in scientific and technological research and development and extension, so that the potato truly becomes an important food that enriches the food structure and improves people's physical constitution.