National Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance Officially Established in Beijing

On December 22, the National Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance was established in Beijing. At the founding conference, Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu pointed out that building the National Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance is an important measure to achieve innovation-driven agricultural development and deepen the reform of the agricultural science and technology system. It is necessary to conscientiously implement the decisions and arrangements of the central government, strive to build the National Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance well, inject innovative vitality into accelerating agricultural scientific and technological progress, and provide strong support for advancing agricultural modernization.

Han Changfu said that at present, China is in a critical period of accelerating agricultural modernization. Stabilizing grain production and increasing income, adjusting structure, improving quality and efficiency, and transforming the development model have put forward newer, higher and more urgent requirements for agricultural science and technology innovation. Building the National Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance will fully pool the country's agricultural research forces through institutional innovation and focus on improving the efficiency of agricultural science and technology innovation. From the perspective of the requirements of modern agricultural development, there is an urgent need to give full play to the core driving role of science and technology innovation; from the perspective of the current state of China's agricultural science and technology development itself, there is an urgent need to rely on deepening reform to stimulate innovation vitality and improve innovation efficiency; from the perspective of international trends in agricultural science and technology development, there is an urgent need for overall coordination and for accelerating the establishment of a coordinated and efficient model of agricultural research organization.

Han Changfu stressed the need to correctly grasp the goals and positioning of the National Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance. The focus should be on making intensive efforts in a unified national approach, end-to-end integration, and integrated development, building a new pattern of agricultural research work featuring a division of labor and collaboration under a “unified national approach” so that the alliance becomes the core platform for joint national agricultural research tackling of key problems; creating an end-to-end “full-chain” model of agricultural research organization covering the upper, middle and lower reaches so that the alliance becomes the backbone network for national agricultural science and technology innovation; and building multidisciplinary integrated “integrated” comprehensive agricultural science and technology solutions so that the alliance becomes an important force supporting the development of modern agriculture.

Han Changfu required that the science and technology innovation alliance should, around the national agricultural strategic needs and aiming at the key points of industrial development, uphold the spirit of large-scale cooperation and collaboration, work solidly, and jointly create an agricultural science and technology innovation platform with focused innovation goals, clear innovation tasks, coordinated innovation teams, optimized innovation resources, shared innovation platforms and collaborative innovation forces, so that the National Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance can quickly demonstrate its strength in China's agricultural scientific and technological progress. It is necessary to adhere to a problem-oriented approach and scientifically distill the alliance's main scientific research tasks; sort out the disciplinary layout and scientifically select the alliance's advantageous and distinctive teams; and strengthen the establishment of rules and regulations and scientifically determine the alliance's operation and management mechanisms.

⟦NL> It is understood that the National Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance is a national science and technology innovation collaboration platform jointly participated in by agricultural (pastoral) and agricultural reclamation academies of sciences at the national, provincial and prefectural levels, and is the main force of China's agricultural science and technology innovation. The alliance mainly has four key tasks: strengthening basic and long-term scientific and technological work to consolidate the foundation for the development of agricultural disciplines; strengthening research on core and key agricultural technologies to break through technological bottlenecks restricting development; strengthening frontier and basic research in agricultural disciplines to seize strategic high ground; and strengthening research and development of major scientific and technological engineering technologies in different ecological zones to promote regional agricultural transformation, upgrading and sustainable development. At the same time, it organizes investigations and research on major issues in agricultural science and technology development and puts forward major strategic consulting reports and policy recommendations.

The meeting was chaired by Vice Minister of Agriculture Zhang Taolin. Li Jiayang, Vice Minister of Agriculture and President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, read out the Initiative of the National Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance on behalf of agricultural research institutions nationwide. Chen Mengshan, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Bi Meijia, Chief Economist of the Ministry of Agriculture, attended the meeting. The meeting established the alliance leading group, formed the alliance council and secretariat, and elected the first council chairman, vice chairmen, secretary-general and deputy secretaries-general. Responsible comrades from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, the Planning and Design Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture, the agricultural (pastoral) academies of sciences and agricultural reclamation academies of sciences of all provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, as well as relevant departments and bureaus and institutions of the Ministry of Agriculture, attended the founding conference.