Chongming is vigorously developing seed source agriculture, and one seed is the "chip" of agricultural modernization. Professional | Project | Agriculture
"Species name: Japonica rice. Family name: Poaceae. Genus name: Rice genus. Variety: Chongshang 2022. Approval number: Hu Shen Dao 2022007. Morphology and habits: Annual herbaceous plant with long, flat leaves, dark green color, large sword leaf opening, generally with few or no leaf hairs. The plant is short, with heavy panicles, long and dense lemma hairs, round and short and wide grains. It is mainly produced in the Yellow River Basin, northern and northeastern parts of China, as well as the Yangtze River Delta region. It is suitable for cultivation in Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang, southern Anhui, and other places."
On July 28th, during the "High quality Development in Shencheng" series of centralized interview activities, the reporter visited the Chongming Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Incubation Park located in Gangyan Town, Chongming District. In the prominent area of the exhibition hall, the rice grains under the spotlight attracted the attention of many people. "Don't underestimate these 'ordinary' rice, each carrying unique genetic information. The seed source is the source of the agricultural industry chain and can be called the 'chip' of modern agricultural development." At the scene, the relevant person in charge of the Chongming District Agriculture and Rural Committee introduced and gestured for reporters to scan the QR code next to the rice with their phones, and the scanned information is the above information. In the exhibition hall, in addition to rice, there are detailed introductions of well-known local agricultural products such as Chongming Golden Melon, Chongming Crispy Taro, and Chongming White Leng Bean.
The Chongming Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Incubation Park is a comprehensive park that integrates scientific research and development, innovation and entrepreneurship, and industrial upgrading. The park gathers functional areas such as the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Exhibition Hall, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Office, Agricultural Product Exhibition, Chongming District Ecological Agriculture Science and Technology Innovation Center, and Chongming Ecological Agriculture Joint Laboratory. The Chongming High end Facility Agriculture Industrial Zone, where the incubation park is located, has a planned total area of over 63 square kilometers. It mainly integrates and applies green production technology, focuses on building a number of intelligent and industrialized production bases, and builds a green agricultural product processing demonstration base.
Why are some agricultural products suitable for growing in Chongming? The secret lies in the source.
The Yangtze River rushes down, and the sediment stripped off by the water along the coast forms Chongming Island. This not only brings weakly alkaline sandy soil suitable for the growth of root crops such as sweet potatoes and taros, but also brings soil sources from all over the country, bringing together unique vegetable varieties in Chongming. Due to its unique geographical characteristics, the mobility of Chongming species is relatively weak, and foreign sources are easily preserved for a long time. There are relatively fewer cases of degradation and extinction compared to those outside the island, so the sources are more abundant. However, due to the lack of strict and standardized breeding systems among farmers, failure to replace seed varieties in a timely manner, and the impact of introducing a large number of new hybrid vegetable varieties, many germplasm resources in Chongming have gradually degraded or even lost.
Since 2008, the vegetable technology department in Chongming has been carrying out seed source preservation work to address this issue. The Agriculture and Rural Affairs Commission of Chongming District once issued a special solicitation notice to the entire district, with the aim of searching for agricultural planting varieties, famous and unique varieties, wild related species, and national endangered crop germplasm resources in Chongming District. The vegetable station in Chongming District has systematically numbered and classified these "ancient, rare, special, and excellent" crop germplasm resources.
Collecting and saving is just the first step. Starting from 2020, the vegetable station in Chongming District has been promoting related agricultural science and technology innovation projects, establishing professional tissue culture rooms, focusing on local varieties, conducting experiments such as purification and rejuvenation, seedling detoxification, and further protecting and improving germplasm resources. The tissue culture room is equipped with high-pressure sterilization pots, ultra clean workbenches, microscopes, and various reagents. There, vegetables are no longer purebred in the soil, but planted in bottles and jars placed on shelves. The staff continuously conducted experiments by applying plant tissue culture technology to accurately control conditions such as temperature, humidity, and light.
"Relying on the strength of scientific research institutions, we have carried out innovative utilization of germplasm resources for Chongming spinach, Chongming crispy taro, Chongming chives, Chongming yam, and other crops," the relevant person in charge of the Chongming District Agriculture and Rural Committee told reporters.
Taking Chongming small spinach as an example, due to the degradation of the seed source, the single plant yield of small spinach was low in the past, and the leaf thickness was uneven. If farmers do not pay attention to preventing impurities and maintaining purity when planting, and plant a large spinach next to the short footed spinach, the pollen in the two vegetable fields will exchange with each other, which will lead to hybridization and degradation of the source, and the characteristics will also change. Through purification and rejuvenation, the cultivation efficiency of Chongming small spinach can be greatly improved, the taste and appearance will be better, and the market competitiveness will increase.
The development of seed sources cannot be done in isolation, and external exchanges can achieve twice the result with half the effort. In recent years, Chongming has increased its investment in agriculture, striving to introduce enterprises with strong innovation capabilities, great development potential, and core competitiveness to settle in Chongming. Not long ago, the Chongming Agricultural High Quality Development Investment Promotion Conference was held, and Chongming initiated invitations to Shanghai Huajing Investment Management Co., Ltd. and other enterprises. In the future, a Chongming Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Development Fund with a total scale of 1 billion yuan will be established through multi-party cooperation, with a focus on investing in strategic agricultural science and technology innovation projects such as seed source agriculture.
The reporter learned that agricultural technological innovation represented by seed source agriculture has been continuously promoting the modernization of agriculture in Chongming recently. In April this year, Chongming teamed up with the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University to establish the Chongming Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance and merged it into the Chongming Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Incubation Park. The key laboratories for grain and oil crop germplasm innovation and genetic improvement, as well as the key laboratory for freshwater aquatic germplasm resources, and other agricultural science and technology platforms were simultaneously unveiled and established, demonstrating Chongming's confidence in building an "agricultural science and technology innovation island".
"In the next stage, Chongming will focus on seed source agriculture, ecological agriculture and other fields, promote the deep integration of 'politics, industry, academia, research and application', and strive to build the incubation park into a new landmark for the development of Chongming's agriculture." The relevant person in charge of Chongming District said.
