Farmers must be well guided in selecting seeds to safeguard agricultural production

On the morning of September 6, the 2016 National High-Quality and High-Yield Rice New Variety Demonstration and Observation and Exchange Meeting was held in Hefei, Anhui Province. More than 150 technical experts from the national rice regional trials for the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, together with heads of rice variety trials from relevant provinces, along with more than 200 rice growers, dealers, members of the Rice Professional Committee and rice experts, came to Kandong Village, Shitang Town, Feidong County, Hefei, Anhui Province to observe rice varieties.

"In order to build a strong agricultural province, the Anhui Provincial Agricultural Commission and the provincial government have always treated the crop seed industry as a fundamental and strategic core industry," Xiong Chengguo, head of the Anhui Provincial Seed Management Station, told reporters. "By the end of 2015, the number of seed enterprises in Anhui Province had decreased from 479 in 2010 to 254, industrial capital had increased from 1.4 billion to more than 4 billion, the annual production and operation of various improved seeds reached 2 billion jin, and sales revenue was 5.8 billion yuan. More than 40 enterprises across the province have started breeding innovation work, and enterprises invest 200 million yuan in scientific research annually."

As scientific research investment continues to increase, farmers attach greater and greater importance to the stable yield and broad adaptability of rice. "I require my varieties to have no obvious shortcomings; they must resist high temperatures, resist low temperatures, and resist all kinds of diseases and insect pests, with strong adaptability and a wide adaptation range," Chen Liyun, a professor at Hunan Agricultural University, said at the exchange meeting. "For example, the variety 'C Liangyou Huazhan' has passed approval for planting in both the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River."

"'C Liangyou Huazhan' is a new hybrid indica rice combination integrating high quality, high yield, high resistance and stable yield, with characteristics such as strong tillering ability, good stem toughness and a moderate plant type," Zhang Zhengguo, deputy director member of the Rice Professional Committee of the National Crop Variety Approval Committee, commented. "This variety has quite broad adaptability and is a good variety and a major variety with market promotion potential."

"The current major trend in rice breeding is heterosis plus ideal plant type, and multi-panicle happens to conform to this trend," Qian Qian, deputy director of the China National Rice Research Institute, said in the exchange. "We must follow the trend and follow the experience summarized over the long term by experienced old scientists and old breeders."

With good varieties, supporting production and cultivation techniques are also needed. Zhang Xiufu, a researcher at the China National Rice Research Institute, said when introducing the high-yield cultivation techniques for "C Liangyou Huazhan": "Rice cultivation today must move toward standardization, simplification and modernization."

After observing and discussing the new high-quality and high-yield rice varieties, more than 150 national rice regional trial technical experts and heads attended the National Rice Trial Technical Training Class. "Why do we carry out variety trials and variety approval?" Ma Zhiqiang, director of the Variety Division of the Seed Management Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, said when introducing the revision of the Measures for the Approval of Major Crop Varieties: "This work is carried out to ensure the safety of varieties in production, to check variety selection for farmers, and to avoid and reduce as much as possible major losses of varieties in actual production; varieties used in production must not have serious defects." "The importance of improved seeds in agriculture is self-evident. To strengthen agriculture, seeds must be strengthened first, and the contribution rate of improved seeds to agricultural yield increases has reached more than 43 percent," Luo Zhixiang, deputy director of the Rice Research Institute of the Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said when explaining the field trial methods and techniques of rice variety trials. "Variety trial work is an important link in variety renewal and replacement, and provides a scientific basis for variety approval." In addition, Wang Shufeng, associate researcher at the Beijing Agricultural Information Technology Research Center, introduced the research and application of information collection technology for rice variety regional trials.