Focusing on the issues in China’s agricultural production, Institute of Crop Science of CAAS has made remarkable achievements in sharing crop germplasm resources, commercializing new varieties, providing technical services, and developing agriculture through science and technology, and thus created enormous social and economic benefits.

Germplasm resource sharing and utilization: we have built a germplasm resource sharing and utilization platform with National Genebank (nursery) as a core facility, realized the standardized collation and digitized expression of germplasm resources in the genebank (nursery), established databases for general and special characteristics. In so doing, we have achieved resources sharing, and provided crop germplasm resources and information for over 2540 important users nationwide, including research institutes, higher education institutes, enterprises, government agencies, production units and the general public. Since the “Eleventh Five-Year-Plan” period, we have provided germplasm information sharing and services for over 840,000 persons/times, and distributed 140,000 accessions of germplasm from 11 crop species for national breeding, research, teaching and production, supporting the crop breeding and basic research. In addition, the Institute, through “National Collaboration Network for Wheat Core Germplasm Effective Utilization”, has provided 52,990 accessions/times for 25 research institutes across the country, including wheat mini core germplasm, applied core germplasm and elite gene resources.

Variety commercialization: Zhonghuang 13, a high-yield high-protein soybean variety, has been selected as one of the dominant varieties for eight years by the Ministry of Agriculture. Now it has been commercialized in 14 provinces and autonomous regions and grown in over 10 million mu per year for the last three years, ranking the first in China. It is the only soybean variety in the last 15 years whose annual growing areas exceeds 10 million mu and the accumulative growing area exceeds over 60 million mu. Zhonghuang 35, a new soybean variety, created a national soybean yield record in 2012, was selected by the Ministry of Agriculture as one of the dominant varieties. Zhongmai 175, a high-yield and disease-resistant wheat variety, has topped in new variety demonstration trials in the northern winter wheat regions for the past years, and created a high yield record in the northern winter wheat regions in 2010. It is planted in 2.83 million mu in total, and now ranks the first in the northern winter wheat areas. Lunxuan 987, another high-yielding wheat variety, has been grown in over 20million mu of farmland. Zhongdan 808, a high-yield, high-quality, multi-resistance, widely adaptable maize hybrid, has been grown in 15 million mu. It is recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture as one of the dominant maize varieties and dominates in Southwest China.

Technical service and transfer: Since the “Eleventh Five-Year-Plan” period, we have, via intelligent laboratory management platform and well-developed omics technology platform, provided nearly 470,000 analytical testing services and 42,000 technical advisory services for 196 research institutes, universities and companies nationwide, and held 23 technical training programs with 1036 trainees. The large-scale transgenic technology system for major crops including rice, wheat and maize has provided approximately 800 gene transformation services for national users. Through satellite remote sensing technology, the field-scale cotton growth and development information has been brought under remote monitoring and management in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Modern information technologies are also applied to build a “Crop Production Technology Information Service Platform and System”. “China Corn Network”, “

Chinese Crop Germplasm Resources Information System”, “Conservation Agriculture” and other non-profit websites have been established, providing free technical advisory services for over 36,300 farmers and technical personnel in real time and the access to more than 2.6 million people since the “Eleventh Five-Year-Plan” period. A national collaboration research network and information service system for super-high-yield theory and technology has also been established and adopted by over 300 demonstration counties throughout 32 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions). In addition, attention is also paid to the transfer of variety protection right, with the total royalty up to 155 million yuan, involving soybean variety “Zhonghuang 13”, corn variety “Zhongdan 909” and wheat variety “Zhongmai 895”.

Technology-driven agricultural development: The experts from the Institute have led the Ministry of Agriculture’s national agricultural technology demonstration project for wheat, corn and soybean, guided the establishment of the industrial technology system for wheat, corn, soybean, millet, oat and beans, and organized national investigations on the key aspects of crop production in farmers’ land, including planting intentions, land preparation, crop growth status, and yield-profit relationship. We have conducted the investigation and diagnose on major production problems, and provided technical and policy advices for government decision-making, thus playing an important role in crop production. Focusing on production issues, the Institute has organized more than 400 experts to prepare six sets of region-based technical manuals and 30 sets of technical flipcharts for corn production, two sets of wheat booklets including“100 Q&As on Key Technologies for High-Quality Wheat Production” and “On Quality and Efficient Wheat Cultivation”, and 31 high-yield wheat technical model diagrams. By now, 306,000 manuals and 996,000 flipcharts have been distributed, providing important technical guidance and training materials in Chinese grain-producing areas. In addition, we actively cooperate with government agencies in providing science and technology guidance for major food crops, make cultivation techniques for wheat, corn, soybeans and other major crops available to farmers through CCTV, Central Radio Station, Farmers’ Daily and other modern media, and provide technical training on national food production technology. We have held 710 technical training courses for the localities since the “Eleventh Five-Year-Plan” period, benefiting about 100,000 trainees. In case of natural disasters in major grain production areas, the experts from the Institute always come to the site in the first time for investigation and come up with effective disaster alleviation proposals, thereby playing an active role in technology-driven disaster alleviation.