Nations should share agricultural tech, ministry official says

Employees of a grain company dry corn at a facility in Heihe, Heilongjiang province. [Photo/Xinhua]

An agricultural official has called on nations to share agricultural technologies to ease global food security problems worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and regional conflicts.

The world's food security situation is facing serious challenges as a result of the pandemic, more extreme weather and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, said Wu Kongming, president of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and a senior official with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

He made the remarks on Thursday at the 6th International Agricultural Research Conference, a virtual event jointly held by the Center for International Agricultural Research and the CAAS' Department of International Cooperation.

He cited figures from the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022, which showed that there were 828 million people who suffered from hunger worldwide in 2021, up 46 million from a year earlier.

Under the circumstances, "agriculture has again grabbed the world's attention," Wu said, adding that the sharing of agricultural knowledge has been promoted at various international events such as the G20 and the APEC meetings.

He said exchanging such technologies with other countries is crucial to China's efforts to preserve farmland and develop better seeds.

In fact, such exchanges have helped modernize Chinese agriculture over the last 45 years.

Some of China's quality livestock breeds and farming technologies were first learned abroad and then reinvented by Chinese scientists. Today, the nation still needs to import cutting-edge technologies and ideas from overseas, Wu said.

Meanwhile, some of China's quality species, such as hybrid rice, should be introduced to other countries as part of a broader effort to strengthen the world's food security, he said.

While addressing the event, Carlos Watson, the representative of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization in China, said the country's success in poverty elimination, digital innovation and agricultural and rural development have put it in a position to share its experience and technologies with the world.

"The FAO is looking forward to expanding areas of work with the CAAS on cooperative research, technical exchange and training, giving full play to the advantages and expertise of the FAO and CAAS, and in alignment with the SDGs," he said, referring to the United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Goals in curbing world hunger and poverty.