Hainan stands at forefront of seed industry innovation

Food security

In Hainan, offseason seed breeding, or Nanfan as it is popularly known among Chinese agri-scientists, started in the 1950s. Some 8,000 agricultural scientists and workers from more than 800 research institutions and universities nationwide gathered at key seed propagation bases in Sanya, Ledong and Lingshui from November to May every year to conduct activities related to seed breeding.

Shortening the breeding cycle by 50 percent or more due to the tropical climate, the Nanfan bases have accelerated the breeding process and greatly improved the adaptability of seed varieties.

Huang Zhengen, chief agronomist at the Hainan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and head of the Nanfan breeding administration, said more than 70 percent of the country's seeds, or over 20,000 new varieties, have been bred through cultivation at Nanfan bases in Hainan, dubbed China's Silicon Valley of seed breeding.

In past years, agri-scientists at the bases had to send seeds to cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, as there were no basic facilities for research tests in Hainan.

The establishment of the Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory in the sci-tech city in May last year has made a great difference for the agri-scientists.

Xia Mian, head of the laboratory's department for cooperation and exchanges, said, "Backed by 12 public scientific research platforms, which will be equipped with about 7,000 sets of globally advanced facilities such as sequencers and mass spectrometers when fully installed in the near future, scientists will find it much easier to conduct research with seed samples collected from the Nanfan fields."

The laboratory has gathered more than 800 research staff members to work on seed technology innovation in collaboration with over 20 member institutions. These include the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Chinese Research Institute of Aquatic Products, China Agriculture University and China National Seed Group Corp.

Officials with the Yazhou sci-tech city said that as an innovation engine for the so-called Nanfan Silicon Valley, the laboratory will help accelerate cultivation of a complete industrial chain linking theoretical innovation with technology integration, seed breeding design and industrial incubation.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, or CAAS, has established its Nanfan Breeding Research Center at the sci-tech city to boost protection and use of seed germplasm resources, molecular design and cultivation of varieties. Tang Huajun, president of CAAS, said the center will coordinate scientific research to jointly tackle key problems.

In September, the launch of the International Federation of Seed Industry Scientists marked another move aimed at enhancing cooperation and using the wisdom and resources of global seed industry experts. To date, 138 entities－including national and provincial institutions in China, international seed organizations and the China branches of multinational groups such as Syngenta, Bayer, Limagrain, Corteva Agriscience, KWS and BASF－have joined the federation.