How can investment in Zhang hybrid millet breeding be increased? Zhao Zhihai offers suggestions

Original title: Zhao Zhihai, deputy to the National People's Congress and director of the Millet Research Institute of the Zhangjiakou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hebei Province -

Suggest increasing investment in hybrid millet breeding

Zhao Zhihai, deputy to the National People's Congress (online image: CCTV.com)

"Hybrid millet has the characteristics of high yield and high quality, water saving and drought resistance, labor saving and high efficiency, and tolerance to barren soil and wide adaptability," said Zhao Zhihai, deputy to the National People's Congress and director of the Millet Research Institute of the Zhangjiakou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hebei Province. "Promoting and developing hybrid millet plays an important role in increasing grain output on dryland, safeguarding national food security, advancing efficient water-saving agriculture, and promoting coordinated development of farming and animal husbandry. Its prospects for promotion and development are extremely broad."

Zhao Zhihai, who after more than 30 years of research successfully bred the "Zhang hybrid millet" series of new varieties, put forward a suggestion at this year's Two Sessions on strengthening the integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries of hybrid millet.

In 2016, the No. 1 Central Document clearly stated the need to advance structural reform of the agricultural supply side, and at present it is necessary to focus on six key tasks: adjusting structure, improving quality, promoting integration, reducing costs, cutting inventory, and shoring up weaknesses. "The characteristics of hybrid millet - high yield, water saving, low chemical fertilizer and pesticide use, and green healthfulness - provide a strategic option for advancing the structural reform of China's agricultural supply side. It will play a major role in dryland farming and is an important grain crop for saving water, increasing grain, increasing feed, increasing land, and raising farmers' incomes," Zhao Zhihai told reporters. "In China, hybrid millet has 200 million mu of planting space. In the semi-arid areas along the Great Wall and in the Lian Dao Wan region with annual rainfall of 300 mm to 400 mm, planting 100 million mu of hybrid millet can achieve an increase of 10 billion kg of grain and save 10 billion cubic meters of water; in the irrigated areas of ** and Inner Mongolia, hybrid millet can open up 100 million mu of new millet planting areas, which not only increases the grain area but also increases the amount of forage and feed."

Adjusting the planting structure first requires crop varieties suited to the new adjustments. The proposal of converting grain to feed has given millet, known as the "head of the five grains," a new role to play. Testing shows that the dry millet straw of "Zhang hybrid millet" has a protein content of 6% to 8%, while corn stalks have only 3% to 4%; the protein content of the whole millet plant is 14% to 16%; and the nutrition is balanced, suitable for animal nutritional needs, and it can fully serve as a high-quality forage and feed for animals. Zhao Zhihai introduced that experiments have proven that using millet straw to feed sheep can increase the lambing rate, survival rate and mutton quality. Zhao Zhihai called for: "We must continuously increase investment in hybrid millet breeding and extend the hybrid millet industry chain."

In order to protect the interests of farmers growing hybrid millet, raise farmers' enthusiasm for expanding hybrid millet cultivation, fully give play to the advantages of hybrid millet in high yield, drought resistance and water saving, and let hybrid millet make its due contribution to increasing grain and saving water in China's agriculture, Zhao Zhihai said: "As a breeder, continuing to cultivate excellent hybrid millet varieties is my own duty. In addition, I suggest launching protective purchasing of millet, incorporating millet into the scope of national policy-based purchasing in major producing areas; advancing the process of making millet a staple food; giving policy support and financial support to farmers who grow millet; and giving policy support to enterprises engaged in deep processing and conversion of millet, so as to achieve integration of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries." (Reporter Wang Peng for this newspaper)