China to carry out census of its agricultural germplasm resources
- ‘To achieve self-sufficiency of seed resources, the country must strengthen the protection and use of germplasm resources,’ agriculture ministry says
- Qinghai-Tibet plateau will be focus of census, it says
China will carry out a three-year census of its agricultural germplasm resources as it seeks to reduce its reliance on imports amid heightened national security concerns.
Germplasm are living genetic resources such as seeds or tissues that are maintained for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, preservation and other research uses.
The study will be conducted by the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs, which said there was a gap between China’s resources and those of other countries. China’s push for industrialisation and urbanisation had led to major changes in the quantities and distribution of germplasm resources, some of which faced becoming extinct, it said.
“To achieve self-sufficiency of seed resources, the country must strengthen the protection and use of germplasm resources, which makes the census a most urgent task,” the ministry said.
“Competition in the seed industry is the battle of science and technology. The country that has more varieties of quality resources will have the advantage of breeding varieties and win the seed industry competition,” it said.
