Han Jun: Anchoring the goal of building a strong agricultural country and accelerating the realization of high-level agricultural technology self-reliance and self-improvement

Today, the "Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 15th Five Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development" was officially released, which proposes to adhere to solving the "three rural issues" as the top priority of the whole party's work, promote the integrated development of urban and rural areas, continuously consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation, promote the basic modern living conditions in rural areas, and accelerate the construction of an agricultural power.
This article shares a signed article published by Han Jun, Secretary of the Party Group and Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in "Qiushi" for the benefit of readers.
A strong agricultural country is the foundation of a socialist modernized country. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the key to building a strong agricultural country lies in science and technology. The Central Rural Work Conference held in December 2024 emphasized the need to promote coordinated research and development of agricultural scientific and technological forces, accelerate the large-scale promotion and application of scientific and technological achievements, and develop new agricultural productivity according to local conditions. We need to deeply understand General Secretary Xi Jinping's important discourse and instructions on the work of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, thoroughly implement the spirit and major deployment of the Central Economic Work Conference, the Central Rural Work Conference, and the National Science and Technology Conference, fully recognize the strategic leading position and fundamental supporting role of science and technology, and vigorously implement the key tasks of achieving high-level agricultural science and technology self-reliance and self-improvement, providing strong support for promoting the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas and accelerating the construction of an agricultural power.   Currently, China's agricultural technological innovation has entered the forefront of the world, with a contribution rate of 63.2% to agricultural technological progress, a coverage rate of over 96% for high-quality crop varieties, and a comprehensive mechanization rate of over 75% for crop cultivation and harvesting. This has made significant contributions to ensuring national food security and promoting high-quality agricultural development. In the new era and new journey, accelerating the achievement of high-level agricultural science and technology self-reliance and self-improvement requires greater responsibility and mission, and the task is even more arduous.
The self-reliance and self-improvement of agricultural technology is the key to building a strong agricultural country. Technological innovation can give birth to new industries, new models, and new driving forces, and is the core element for developing new quality productivity. In today's world, technological innovation has become the main battlefield of international strategic games, and the competition around the technological high ground is unprecedentedly fierce. A new round of agricultural technology revolution characterized by biotechnology and information technology is giving birth to significant breakthroughs. The paradigm of agricultural research is undergoing profound changes, and interdisciplinary integration is constantly deepening. Emerging cutting-edge technologies such as gene editing, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence are leading the international agricultural technology forefront, accelerating the level of agricultural technology development and promoting breakthrough leaps in agricultural productivity. Currently, China's agricultural science and technology is in a critical period of transition from research and development tracking, technological catch-up, imitation innovation to independent innovation. To accelerate the construction of a strong agricultural country, we must have a clear understanding of the new situation of international competition in agricultural science and technology, place agricultural science and technology innovation in a more prominent position, closely monitor the forefront of world agricultural science and technology, accelerate breakthroughs in key core agricultural technologies, strive to seize the high ground of agricultural science and technology innovation, shape new driving forces and advantages for agricultural and rural development, and cultivate and strengthen new quality productivity in agriculture.
The self-reliance and self-improvement of agricultural technology are the fundamental support for ensuring national food security. Ensuring stable and secure supply of food and important agricultural products has always been a top priority in building a strong agricultural country. The fundamental solution to the problem of food security lies in technology. To ensure national food security, it is not only necessary to "store grain in the ground", but also to "store grain in technology". In 2024, China's grain production will exceed 1.4 trillion catties for the first time, and the comprehensive agricultural production capacity will continue to improve. The foundation of national food security is increasingly solid, and the contribution of agricultural science and technology is indispensable. However, it should also be noted that the constraints on arable land, water and other resources are becoming increasingly tight, and natural disasters and extreme weather and climate events are occurring frequently, putting great pressure on stable and increased grain production. To firmly hold the rice bowls of the Chinese people in our own hands, we must deeply implement the strategy of "storing grain in the land and technology", rely on technological innovation to improve yield and quality, comprehensively enhance land output rate, labor productivity, and agricultural resource utilization efficiency, further tap into the potential of grain production, and solidify the foundation of national food security.

The self-reliance and self-improvement of agricultural technology is a key measure to promote the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas and achieve modernization of agriculture and rural areas. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that the key to agricultural modernization is the modernization of agricultural science and technology. To comprehensively promote rural revitalization, we must base ourselves on characteristic resources and adhere to the promotion of agriculture through science and technology. Currently, compared with the new industrialization, informatization, and urbanization, the modernization of agriculture and rural areas is still a shortcoming in China's modernization construction. The integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas is not close enough, and the expansion of multiple functions of agriculture and diverse values in rural areas is not sufficient. Agricultural non-point source pollution is still at the threshold of controlling existing and increasing pollution, and there are still some prominent shortcomings and weaknesses in rural construction. To promote the overall revitalization of rural areas and realize agricultural and rural modernization, we must closely rely on scientific and technological innovation to accelerate the construction of a modern agricultural industrial system, promote the upgrading of the whole chain of rural industries, promote the overall green transformation of agricultural development, constantly improve China's agricultural comprehensive efficiency and competitiveness, and do everything possible to broaden the channels for farmers to increase income and become rich, so as to accelerate agricultural and rural modernization and better promote the construction of Chinese path to modernization. 2、 Accurately grasping the overall requirements of agricultural science and technology work in the new era and new journey, the new round of party and state institutional reform starting in 2023 has entrusted the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs with the responsibility and tasks of coordinating and promoting key core technologies, technology model integration, and applicable technology promotion in the agricultural and rural fields. This is a new coordinate, clear new positioning, and new mission assigned by the Party Central Committee to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs from the perspective of the overall cause of the Party and the country. We need to accurately grasp the work positioning and overall requirements, and effectively fulfill our mission and responsibilities.
Adhere to the centralized and unified leadership of the Party. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a series of historic achievements in the field of agricultural science and technology in China have been the result of the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core. The fundamental reason lies in General Secretary Xi Jinping's leadership and scientific guidance of Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We have always insisted on placing scientific and technological innovation in a prominent position in the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. In the new era and new journey, we must adhere to the leadership of the Party throughout the entire process and all aspects of agricultural science and technology work, firmly grasp and make good use of the new opportunities of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, focus on accelerating the new task of achieving high-level agricultural science and technology self-reliance, deeply implement the strategies of rejuvenating the country through science and education, strengthening the country through talent, and innovation driven development, and solidly move towards the goal of building a strong agricultural country.
Fully leverage the advantages of the new national system. The most important experience of agricultural scientific and technological innovation in China is to leverage the advantages of the socialist system in concentrating efforts to accomplish major tasks, and to carry out organized, systematic, and task oriented scientific research and development. After years of development, China has established a relatively complete agricultural science and technology innovation system from the central to the local level, forming a strong scientific research organization team. According to statistics, there are currently more than 860 agricultural research institutions in China, with a total of about 120000 researchers in agricultural research institutes and agricultural related universities, which strongly supports the leapfrog development of agricultural scientific and technological innovation. Agricultural science and technology work must fully leverage the advantages of the new national system, take key core agricultural technologies as the guide, focus on chassis technology, core seed sources, key agricultural machinery and equipment and other fields, integrate various advantageous scientific and technological resources at all levels, strengthen the construction of national agricultural science and technology strategic forces, mobilize the enthusiasm of industry, academia, research and application, promote the systematization, institutionalization, and synergy of innovation forces, factor allocation, and talent teams, form competitive advantages, and win strategic initiative.
Follow the laws of agricultural technological innovation. Agricultural technology focuses on animals, plants, and microorganisms as the main research objects, and has typical characteristics such as long periodicity, uninterrupted nature, biodiversity, and ecological regionalism. For example, dry fields and paddy fields are different, mountains and hills are different, and the north and south are different. Pig breeding takes 8-10 years, cow breeding takes 15-20 years, and there are more than 1600 types of crop diseases, pests, weeds, and rodents that often occur. Therefore, in the field of agriculture, it is difficult to "dominate the world" with a single variety of animals and plants and a single technological model, and any shortcomings in any link may lead to a "barrel effect". To accelerate the improvement of China's agricultural science and technology level, it is necessary to follow the characteristics of the agricultural industry and the laws of agricultural science and technology innovation, classify and promote scientific and technological innovation in different types and fields such as applied basic research, cutting-edge key technology innovation, new variety cultivation, input creation, and agricultural machinery and equipment research and development, and promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, the cultivation and growth of emerging industries, and the layout and construction of future industries in agricultural science and technology from different dimensions.
Promote the deep integration of agricultural technology innovation and industrial innovation. Agriculture is an important foundational industry of the national economy, which can provide broad application scenarios and rich production practices for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. However, it must be noted that the phenomenon of "two skins" between agricultural technology and economy in China still needs to be further cracked. There are many single technologies, few integrated supporting facilities, high yields in expert experimental fields, low yields in large fields, weak innovation capabilities of agricultural enterprises, and a lack of leading technology enterprises. Whether there are achievements to be transformed and whether they are transformed smoothly has become a prominent problem restricting the development of agricultural technology. To solidly promote the integrated development of agricultural science and technology innovation and industrial innovation, we must adhere to carrying out scientific and technological innovation towards the forefront of world science and technology, the main battlefield of the economy, major national needs, and people's health, increase the supply of high-quality scientific and technological achievements, and turn more scientific and technological achievements from samples into products and form industries; It is necessary to write the paper on the ground, accelerate the establishment of a management mechanism that focuses on collecting actual industrial needs, innovating research around application scenarios, and evaluating and accepting user feedback, so that more agricultural scientific and technological achievements can serve the main battlefield of rural revitalization and the front line of agricultural production, and be transformed into the real productivity of agricultural and rural modernization; We must vigorously cultivate leading agricultural technology enterprises, create an efficient ecosystem for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and realize that scientific research tasks come from production, demand, and the market, and that scientific research achievements go to production, users, and enterprises.

3、 Focus on improving the overall efficiency of the agricultural science and technology innovation system

In today's world, unprecedented changes are accelerating, and a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is deepening. Accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas faces both significant opportunities and challenges, and it is more important than ever to attach importance to and rely on agricultural technological innovation. Especially for a developing country like ours, in order to cope with various risks and challenges on the road ahead, it is more necessary than ever to accelerate the realization of high-level agricultural technology self-reliance and strengthen the foundation of building a strong agricultural country. In the new era and new journey, we need to focus on key areas and critical links, grasp the tasks of agricultural scientific and technological innovation in a solid and detailed manner, strive to improve the overall efficiency of the agricultural scientific and technological innovation system, and provide more solid and powerful technological support for China's transition from an agricultural power to an agricultural powerhouse.
Build a hierarchical, collaborative, and moderately competitive agricultural technology innovation system. Guide innovation entities at all levels and types to focus on their main responsibilities, functions, and core missions to carry out scientific and technological innovation, and solve prominent problems such as fragmentation, low-level duplication, and low conversion rates. Promote the Yazhou Bay National Laboratory to focus on major strategic needs and give full play to the role of the seed industry technology research and development platform and chain leader; Central level agricultural research institutes focus on serving major national needs, focusing on global, strategic, and forward-looking agricultural scientific and technological issues; Local agricultural research institutes focus on supporting regional development, focusing on regional and characteristic agricultural science and technology issues; Agricultural universities should strengthen their mission of serving agriculture, take moral education as the foundation, take strengthening agriculture and promoting agriculture as their own responsibility, vigorously cultivate new talents who understand and love agriculture, and accelerate the improvement of agricultural scientific and technological innovation capabilities.
Fight the battle against key core technologies in agriculture. Make good use of major agricultural technology projects and other means, starting from the urgent and long-term needs of the country, coordinate and deploy the application of basic research, key common technology innovation, major new variety creation, and experimental demonstration applications. Promote the cross integration of biotechnology, information technology, and engineering technology, strive to accelerate breakthroughs in a number of core technology products with independent intellectual property rights in core seed sources, farmland production capacity improvement, intelligent agricultural machinery and equipment, modern facility agriculture, smart agriculture, agricultural green inputs, agricultural biomanufacturing, etc., and promote the emergence of a number of cutting-edge and disruptive technologies in gene editing, synthetic biology, microbiology, and other fields, achieving a number of key, original, and leading major scientific and technological achievements, and accelerating the capture of the world's agricultural science and technology high ground.
Strengthen the dominant position of agricultural enterprises in scientific and technological innovation. To promote agricultural technological innovation, it is necessary to vigorously cultivate and strengthen leading agricultural technology enterprises. To establish a cultivation database for leading agricultural technology enterprises, promote the formation of a normalized docking mechanism, and implement a closed-loop service of "one enterprise, one policy". Efforts will be made to cultivate a group of leading and rapidly growing agricultural technology enterprises, and to enhance their participation in technology planning, policy decision-making, and implementation. Encourage enterprises to take the lead in establishing agricultural science and technology innovation alliances, innovation consortia, industry research institutes, and new research and development institutions, support enterprises to lead or participate in the implementation of major national science and technology projects and the construction of major innovation platforms, promote enterprise led integration of industry, academia, research, and application innovation, and give full play to the main role of enterprises in scientific research and achievement transformation.
Build a strong agricultural technology platform base. Focusing on fields such as biological breeding, artificial intelligence, and synthetic biology, we will promote the layout of a number of national key laboratories, optimize the layout of provincial and ministerial level agricultural key laboratories, establish several national technology innovation centers in the field of agriculture, give full play to the backbone role of agricultural science and technology innovation, and effectively support scientific and technological competition and industrial development. Systematically layout basic and long-term technological work in agriculture, promote long-term positioning and monitoring of soil quality, pests and diseases, agricultural ecological environment, and other aspects. Around the main grain and oil crops, a number of modern agricultural science and technology experimental demonstration bases will be laid out in different regions, and demonstration and promotion of leading varieties and main technologies will be carried out to accelerate the large-scale promotion and application of agricultural science and technology achievements.
Build a strong and powerful team of agricultural technology talents. Focusing on major needs such as stable production and supply, tackling key problems and breaking through bottlenecks, relying on major agricultural science and technology tasks, important innovation platforms, modern agricultural industry technology systems, etc., we will focus on cultivating strategic scientists, first-class scientific and technological leaders, and innovation teams, highlight the strengthening of young scientific and technological talent training, and build a team of agricultural science and technology management talents. Improve the incentive mechanism for scientific and technological talents, deepen the reform of empowering job-related scientific and technological achievements, establish a talent evaluation system guided by innovation ability, quality, effectiveness, and contribution, and open up communication channels for agricultural scientific and technological talents between universities, research institutes, and enterprises. Draw a "strategic talent map" in the agricultural field and create a high-level talent resource pool with wide coverage and dynamic adjustment.
Promote the transformation and application of agricultural scientific and technological innovation achievements. Focusing on ensuring national food security, combined with the new round of the 100 billion pound grain production capacity improvement action, we will promote the integration and innovation of good fields, good seeds, good opportunities, and good methods, and support the large-scale increase in yield of grain and oil crops. Strengthen the coordinated efforts of the government and the market, give full play to the public welfare service function of the grassroots agricultural technology promotion system, encourage the development of various agricultural science and technology service organizations, innovate and improve service models such as the science and technology special envoy system, science and technology small institutes, and expert large institutes, and connect the "last mile" of science and technology entering villages and households. Promote a virtuous cycle of "technology industry finance", guide financial capital to invest early, small, long-term, and hard technology in the agricultural field, encourage the construction of incubators and bases that promote the trading, incubation and transformation of achievements, and the cultivation of technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthen the construction of agricultural technology managers, and promote the assembly, integration, and maturity of agricultural scientific research achievements.
Create a more optimized agricultural technology innovation ecosystem. Improve the investment mechanism that combines competitive support and stable support, guide more social investment, strengthen long-term stable support for basic cutting-edge technologies, outstanding researchers, and high-level teams, and create an environment conducive to dedicated research and innovative breakthroughs. Improve the management mechanism of scientific research projects, clarify the selection criteria and procedural systems for different types of scientific research activities, and unite the national agricultural science and education system and agricultural enterprises to form an innovative force. Vigorously develop venture capital, strengthen intellectual property protection and application. Vigorously promote the spirit of scientists, improve the mechanism of scientific research integrity constraint, strengthen the construction of academic atmosphere and style, and strengthen the responsibility of experts in various evaluations, awards, and acceptance processes. Expand agricultural technology openness and cooperation, improve the working mechanism for expanding opening-up to the outside world, actively integrate into global agricultural technology innovation, fully utilize international innovation resources, and accelerate the realization of China's high-level agricultural technology self-reliance and self-improvement from a higher starting point.