Hainan stands at forefront of seed industry innovation

Major projects

Nanfan seed innovation is rising steadily, along with the accelerating construction and preparation of a number of major projects.

The projects include a Nanfan crop phenotype research center, an international corn technology innovation and achievement transformation center, and the national Nanfan biological breeding area. There is also the Nanfan Seed Science and Technology Innovation Public Center, the National Saline-tolerant Rice Technology Innovation Center, and the Sanya Aquatic Seedling Nanfan Ecological Industrial Park.

With unique natural conditions and favorable policies for Hainan Free Trade Port, the sci-tech city has attracted more than 600 agricultural enterprises. They include leading domestic seed developers such as China National Seed Group Corp, Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture Co, Dabeinong Technology Group Co, and also KWS from Germany and KeyGene from the Netherlands.

The Yazhou sci-tech city has adopted the highest international standards. It has also established a special zone to ensure that seed intellectual property rights resulting from new scientific and technological innovation are well protected and produce industrial benefits as soon as possible.

The zone has achieved encouraging results.

With third-party DNA certificates provided by the zone, a 22 million yuan ($3.2 million) deal has been struck for the intellectual property rights of the Danxiahong pear, a new fruit variety developed by CAAS scientists.

With a Danxiahong pear weighing 260 grams on average, the fruit has a good taste, attractive shape and color, and can be stored for a long time. Its prospects appear promising once the fruit is promoted in traditional growing areas in north and northwest China.

Experts said securing intellectual property rights for the new pear variety marked a breakthrough in progress toward a global transformation center for seed industry achievements.

Hainan is also aiming for Nanfan Silicon Valley to provide professional services for businesses and individuals involved in seed breeding and scientific research, and seed production and testing at Hainan Free Trade Port, according to the sci-tech city administration.

The province will soon release its ideas for implementing the national plan for construction of Nanfan Silicon Valley (2021-30) and will work to make Hainan a national pioneer area for systematic integration and innovation, according to provincial government officials.

The officials said that by focusing on ensuring national food security and upgrading the seed industry, Hainan is building institutional systems. These systems are focused on protecting germplasm resources, guaranteeing breeding bases, scientific and technological innovation in the seed industry, a modern seed industry, seed industry policy system, and seed industry supervision and governance.

Hainan has designated about 18,000 hectares of land as Nanfan scientific research and breeding reserves, research platforms and other support service areas to accommodate experts and facilities. Huang, the Nanfan breeding administration head, said a prototype for Nanfan Silicon Valley has taken shape.