What were the key tasks in seed industry management in 2016?

Seeds are the source of agricultural production. Increasing farmers' income and achieving prosperity must start with seeds; adjusting the structure of the planting industry must start with seeds; and the quality of what we eat also starts with seeds.

In 2016, what kind of seeds will farmers choose, and what new varieties will breeders develop?

Food security remains unshaken, and the three major staple grains face new opportunities. Corn is still the crop with the greatest opportunities. In terms of subcategories, as the area planted with grain corn is reduced, corn varieties for segmented demand such as silage corn, fresh-eating corn and popcorn will have a bigger market. In terms of varieties alone, large-scale farming has a stronger demand for mechanization, and varieties suitable for direct grain harvesting will advance irresistibly. Reducing area means using less land to meet increased production demand, so high-density, high-yield varieties will also be the development trend for grain corn varieties. Rice needs higher-quality varieties even more. When some varieties are hard to sell, others are in short supply. Some rice mills directly use the name of a rice variety as the name of the rice product. Such varieties sell well because they taste good, and because they sell well they command a good price. For wheat, the concept of high-quality wheat has already taken root in people's minds, and high-quality wheat such as strong-gluten wheat remains a development trend.

Eating enough is not enough; we also want to eat well. Old flavors have new varieties. Breeding is like solving a Rubik's cube; it is very hard to get all six faces aligned. High yield and quality are hard to achieve at the same time. Why have the millet porridge we drink and the tomatoes we eat lost their "old flavor"? Is it really all because too much chemical fertilizer is used? In fact, varieties also have a lot to do with it. The "sand tomatoes" we once ate saw their planting area greatly reduced because they did not tolerate transport, so what we eat now are all transport-tolerant "hard tomatoes." But some breeders have developed varieties that are both "sandy" and "transport-tolerant," and the old flavor has come back. It is not just tomatoes. With the improvement of breeding technology, new varieties of many crops such as millet, mung beans and soybeans have increased yields while their quality has also "come back." In areas such as the "Sickle Bend," these varieties are also important choices.

Green and sustainable development: varieties can also contribute. In the wheat-growing area of the northern Huang-Huai-Hai region, water shortages cause drought and soil salinization. Breeding drought-resistant and salt-alkali-tolerant varieties that can further reduce the labor used for watering and cut water consumption will continue to be favored. As corn area is reduced, silage corn stalks are used as feed, and the stalks are no longer returned to the field. How then can the soil be conserved? Pilot rotation and fallow programs are carried out in suitable areas. Leguminous crops can fix nitrogen and conserve soil, so high-yield legume crops will certainly become a development direction. With the implementation of the pesticide reduction plan, varieties with stronger disease resistance play a positive role in reducing pesticide use.

Year after year, the people who work hard cultivating the vast land begin by preparing good seeds and look forward to the next year's harvest.

2016 will be better!