Agricultural exchanges deepened in Yangtze River Delta

Wang Ri felt excited when he won the bid for a new wheat variety for 2.2 million yuan (US$329,340) at an auction in east China’s Zhejiang Province.

“The wheat, called Anke 1605, can make up for our disadvantages in high gluten wheat, and our company’s demonstration area for the new variety will likely reach more than 66,600 hectares by 2023,” said Wang, deputy office director of Anhui Wanken Seed Co.

The auction was held on October 27 in Jiashan County, part of Zhejiang’s efforts to promote agricultural exchanges and integration in the Yangtze River Delta region, which covers a 358,000-square-kilometer expanse and consists of Shanghai as well as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces. It is one of the most populated and urbanized city clusters in China, contributing one-fourth of its gross domestic product.

Wang said that in the past, agricultural scientific research institutions didn’t know how to market their research achievements, whereas agriculture firms with great demand lacked ways to find them.

“Thanks to the auction, enterprises and research institutions became connected, and we could find the products we need from other places in the delta region,” Wang said.

With a turnover of 19.18 million yuan, a total of 16 agricultural scientific and technological advancements were auctioned, which attracted 32 enterprises from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui.

The rights of six rice varieties were successfully transferred at the auction, which laid a solid foundation for the demonstration, popularization, and industrialization of these varieties in the Delta.

“The academies of agricultural sciences in the delta have long had a good relationship,” said You Zhaotong, an official with the Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

“The scientific and technological problems that occurred in one place will be solved by concerted efforts in the region, and the achievements will also be shared across the region.”

As early as 2001, to gather the advantages in the Delta, the academies of agricultural sciences in the region established a joint service group for promoting agriculture through science and technology.

The academies then established a research institute on the rural revitalization of the delta in 2018, jointly carrying out more than 400 technical forums, lectures, and on-site technical guidance activities. They also set up over 30 demonstration bases and promoted more than 50 excellent and new varieties.

A regional specialized trading platform was formed last year to promote market-oriented trading of agricultural scientific and technological achievements in the Delta online and offline.

According to You, the platform has held three offline auctions since 2019, registering transactions of 48 agricultural scientific and technological advancements with a total turnover of 47.81 million yuan.

“The platform has further enriched agricultural exchanges in the Yangtze River Delta region, through which rice from Zhejiang can be planted in Jiangsu, and Jiangsu’s watermelons can be planted in Zhejiang,” You said.