context: Beijing identifies tech development as one of the major ways to enhance ‘new quality productive forces’. Investment in ag machinery, ag tech and seed and pig production is set to rise in 2024.
Tang Renjian 唐仁建 MARA (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs) minister reiterated Beijing's prioritising of new sources of ag growth on an inspection tour of Hunan, a major pig-producing province, and Jiangxi, a seed industry hub.
The measures he discussed during the tour emphasise the goals of increasing ag productivity and efficiency as practical steps towards realising high-quality ag development.
In Jiangxi, Tang visited the Shuangbaotai (Twins Group) headquarters and the State Key Laboratory for Pig Genetic Improvement and Germplasm Innovation at Jiangxi Agricultural University. Tang stressed
- to improve pig production
- focus on feed and disease prevention
- increase investment in tech and research to improve efficiency
- promote resource utilisation of livestock waste through ‘planting-raising integration’
- encourage a green approach across the industry
- to boost pig breeding
- strengthen research into pig genetics to identify superior genes
- accelerate the breeding and improvement of high-yielding, high-quality and efficient pig breeds
- use scientific innovation to drive industry progress
With seed tech and industry development seen as key to food security, Tang inspected Hunan's Yuelu Mountain Seed Industry Innovation Centre, Yuan Longping Agricultural High-tech HQ and Huazhi Biotechnology HQ. He emphasised
- to innovate seed
- develop new collaborative mechanisms for research and development in bio-breeding tech
- leverage leading companies and tackle key shared challenges
- speed up the development of proprietary bio-breeding tools and build automated, high-throughput and low-cost smart breeding platforms
- utilise big data to identify seed resources
- explore new algorithms, models, genes and varieties
- develop new facilities, equipment and establish new bases and industries
- to develop ag machinery
- address bottlenecks like oilseed harvesting and orchard management
- develop lightweight machinery to reduce farmers' workload
- to continue research on hybrid rice
- continue to breed low-cadmium-accumulating and salt-tolerant rice varieties
- push forward the development and promotion of high-yielding, high-quality and multi-resistant varieties