China to build national gene pool of farm seeds

A national gene pool of farm and tree seeds will be jointly formed by teams from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the China Forestry Group Corporation.

This comes after the two teams signed a strategic cooperation agreement on research and development in agricultural and forestry germplasm resources.

In the next five years, the two teams will try to promote and plant about 66,666.67 hectares of high-quality farm and tree crops at home and abroad, aiming to reach an output value of 10 billion yuan (about 1.53 billion US dollars) in the primary and deep processing of domestic high-quality agricultural and forestry products.

China will strive to tackle problems related to seeds and farmlands next year as part of efforts to ensure food security, according to a statement released after the annual Central Economic Work Conference in the middle of December.

The country will enhance the protection and utilization of germplasm resources and step up the construction of seed banks, the statement said.