Transform medium-and low-yield fields to break through Hu Huanyong line

In 2014, China's grain production achieved a record "eleven consecutive increase", with a total output of 1.2142 trillion jin, an increase of 10.32 billion jin over the previous year. It is gratifying that grain has grown for 11 consecutive years, but how can grain production maintain the momentum of growth in the future? Under the new normal of economic development, how to rely on the strength of science and technology to transform medium-and low-yield fields? Under the premise of ensuring the steady growth of grain production in the three major plains of the "first granary", how to make comprehensive planning to ensure national food security?

With these questions, this newspaper interviewed Duan Ziyuan, deputy director of the Science and Technology Promotion and Development Bureau of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Zhang Zhengbin, a researcher at the Agricultural Resources Research Center of the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The high starting point and increasing difficulties under the "Eleven consecutive growth"

Host: in 2014, China's grain production achieved an "eleven consecutive increase", which should be said to be gratifying, but many industry experts said that the issue of food security must not be taken lightly. What do you think?

Duan Ziyuan: China's total grain output has achieved "11 consecutive increases", which is a hard-won achievement. However, China's food security has also encountered increasing difficulties from a high starting point.

Chen Xiwen, deputy head of the Central Rural work leading Group, said at an economic security forum that China's six major agricultural products need to be imported and food security cannot be ignored. The Central Economic work Conference held not long ago determined that changing the mode of agricultural development was one of the five major tasks of economic work in 2015, and the Central Rural work Conference stressed that the primary task of promoting agricultural modernization is to ensure national food security. it shows that our government attaches great importance to food security.

At present, China imports more than 84 million tons of grain every year, and in addition to more than 60 million tons of soybeans, grain imports have also reached nearly 15 million tons. In addition, 4.5 million tons of cotton, 4.54 million tons of sugar and 8.09 million tons of vegetable oil are imported every year. China has become the three major net importers of staple grains of wheat, rice and corn, and the largest importer of grain in the world.

However, the price of grain export in the international market is lower than that in the domestic market, the price of China's agricultural products is close to the "ceiling", while the "floor" of production costs is rising; the environmental pollution caused by excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is increasing; the burden of state subsidies for supporting agriculture is heavy; and the efficiency of grain production continues to decline. The grain production capacity in the rainy, hot and abundant areas in the south has declined, and the rising cost of grain production in the water-deficient areas in the north continues to highlight the "six-fold squeeze", and the challenge to ensure national food security is enormous.

Zhang Zhengbin: in order to maintain the continuous increase of total grain production, we must realize the transformation of medium-and low-yield fields. However, the transformation of medium-and low-yield fields is faced with four problems: the first is water shortage. China has 900 million mu of dry land, accounting for 50% of China's arable land. Second, land quality (saline-alkali, sandy land), the total area of saline-alkali wasteland and saline-alkali barrier cultivated land exceeds 500 million mu, of which 200 million mu have the potential for agricultural utilization, accounting for more than 10% of the total cultivated land in China. Third, the investment in agricultural science and technology is not high, because the medium-and low-yield fields are generally located in the remote, and the basic farmland transformation, agricultural machinery, irrigation, fertilizer and other inputs are less, forming a long-term planting habit of wide planting and thin harvest. Fourth, the lack of drought-resistant, salt-resistant and stress-resistant biological varieties, the yield is low and unstable.

Host: in the face of such a dilemma, what strategies does the government have to deal with it?

Zhang Zhengbin: in fact, science and technology to support national food security has become the content of the national strategy.

During an inspection tour of agriculture in Shandong in 2013, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that "ensuring food security is an eternal issue for China."

The first major theme of the No. 1 document of the Central Committee in 2014 is to improve the national food security system, mainly implementing the national food security strategy based on China, based on China, ensuring production capacity, moderate import, and supported by science and technology.

In May 2014, Xi Jinping went to Henan to inspect agriculture and pointed out that grain production fundamentally lies in cultivated land, the lifeline lies in water conservancy, the way out lies in science and technology, and the driving force lies in policies, and these key points should be implemented and put in place one by one. we will strive to achieve new breakthroughs in grain production at a high base point.

At the recent Central Economic work Conference, General Secretary Xi further pointed out that it is necessary to unswervingly speed up the transformation of the mode of agricultural development. as soon as possible to attach equal importance to quantity and quality benefits, pay attention to improving competitiveness, pay attention to agricultural technological innovation, pay attention to sustainable intensive development, take the road of modern agricultural development with high output efficiency, product safety, resource conservation, and environment-friendly.

The just-concluded Central Rural work Conference pointed out that we should be good at capturing opportunities in the midst of changes and creating conditions in adversity, constantly tapping new potential, cultivating new advantages, and opening up new spaces.

All these reflect the importance that the central government and national leaders attach to science and technology to support national food security.

Build two major granaries in China

Moderator: I just mentioned that the implementation of the transformation of medium-and low-yield fields is the inevitable way to ensure grain growth, so how to speed up the transformation of medium-and low-yield fields?

Duan Ziyuan: in my opinion, the transformation of medium-and low-yield fields, the construction of the "Bohai granary" and the "Huaibei granary" in the southern part of Huang-Huai are new breakthroughs.

In February 2014, Zhang Laiwu, Vice Minister of Science and Technology, proposed that the Ministry of Science and Technology should promote the progress of agricultural science and technology from five major aspects. Its focus is on the Bohai granary and dry farming agricultural science and technology engineering.

On the basis of nearly a decade of research, the Chinese Academy of Sciences made prior arrangements and achieved a certain area of demonstration success, and then jointly with the Ministry of Science and Technology in Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning, and Tianjin, launched the "Bohai Granary Science and Technology demonstration Project". Important progress and expected results have been achieved. Vice Premier Wang Yang made a special trip to Wudi County, Shandong Province in the project area, where he fully affirmed and spoke highly of it. In 2014, Zhang Zhengbin took the lead in writing the proposal of "speeding up the transformation of medium-and low-yield fields and the construction of granaries in the south of Huang-Huai River". Zhang Laiwu made a special trip to Anhui Province to conduct research on scientific and technological support for food security. he suggested that the second granary science and technology demonstration project should be built in Huang-Huai-Hai and other areas to give full play to the potential of increasing grain production in medium-and low-yield fields. we will explore the technological model for increasing grain production in middle-and low-yield fields and the "one, two, three" industrial integration technology system, so as to provide scientific and technological support for increasing grain production, increasing farmers' income, and increasing agricultural efficiency.

Recently, the Science and Technology Promotion and Development Bureau of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in accordance with the spirit of President Bai Chunli's instructions on the construction of Huaibei granary, has allocated 10 million yuan to join the Anhui Provincial Committee of Agriculture, the Department of Science and Technology and other provincial departments, Woyang County, Bozhou City and Longkang Farm. The typical Woyang County and Longkang Farm in Huaibei District were selected to carry out the treatment of mortar black soil, selection and cultivation of wheat varieties resistant to scab, cultivation of high-yield corn varieties harvested by machine, improvement of water conservancy facilities and intelligent machinery operation and demonstration of agricultural Internet of things construction demonstration to promote the transformation and development of agriculture, so as to carry out preliminary exploration for the deployment of national tasks.