Decade Success: China's agricultural sci-tech progress supports food security

A bullet train runs along a paddy field in Fangshengangzi Village of Gongzhuling, northeast China's Jilin Province, Sept. 19, 2022. (Xinhua/Yan Linyun)

Over the past decade, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) has made a series of agricultural sci-tech achievements, providing strong support for the country's food safety, according to the CAAS.

In a summary of its work since 2012, the CAAS said its scientists discovered and cloned the genes that hindered the utilization of rice heterosis for the first time, providing important gene resources and feasible solutions to solve the problem of hybrid sterility in rice.

The discovery of the key genes for the formation of the bitter taste in cucumber fruit is also one of the many key discoveries in crop omics and genetics made by the CAAS.

It has also made breakthroughs in crop pest control and prevention, contributing to national food security.

Focusing on the frequent occurrence of primary diseases and insect pests of major crops and alien invasive organisms, the CAAS carried out theoretical research and engineering system construction of whole chain prevention and control.

It established a real-time monitoring and early warning technology system for fall armyworm prevention and developed a series of key technologies and programs to support the prevention and control of fall armyworm nationwide, which has been recommended globally by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.