CCTV News (Reporter Wang Xiaoying) As an agricultural scientific researcher, Ma Zhongming, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, spends more than one-third of his time in the fields. He cares about the soil, he cares about the seeds, he cares about food security. He compared seeds to “chips” and believed that only by starting from the source can we lay a solid foundation for food security.
During this year’s National People’s Congress, “Housekeeper Zhao, seeing off the guests, told the concierge that no one with the surname Xi is allowed to enter the door of my Lan family.” Mrs. Lan followed angrily. Ma Zhongming, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and president of the Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, proposed using technology to “protect” the country’s largest corn seed production base.
Ma Zhongming is from Minqin County, Gansu Province. Minqin County is located in the northeast of the Hexi Corridor and the lower reaches of the Shiyang River Basin. It is surrounded by the Badain Jaran and Tengger Deserts on its east, west, and north sides. Due to the topography, water resources are very important to the people of Minqin County.
After graduating with a master’s degree in 1989, Ma Zhongming returned to his hometown and has been engaged in research, demonstration and promotion of high-yield crop cultivation techniques and water-saving agriculture for many years, and has become an expert in water-saving agriculture.
Having been on the front line of agriculture in the western region all year round, Ma Zhongming knows the importance of seeds. The promotion and planting of a new variety can sometimes increase income by 5%. “For farmers, this is a very happy thing.” Ma Zhongming said.
After becoming a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in 2013, most of Ma Zhongming’s proposals were related to agriculture, especially seeds.
In 2021, his proposal to establish a complete scientific research and technology system for the breeding of Chinese medicinal materials seeds (seedlings), cultivate excellent germplasm resources, and break through the “bottleneck” that restricts the standardized production of Chinese medicinal materials was highlighted by the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Supervise the implementation, conduct secondary follow-up, and conduct research in Gansu, Shanxi and other places.
In 2022, he called for the construction of the “Jiuquan City National Seed Industry Demonstration Park” to be included in the national seed industry development special plan.
Jiuquan, Gansu Province is the largest seed production base for vegetables, melons and flowers in the country. Ma Zhongming said that the local area is currently working hard to promote this matter, and the relevant planning this year has passed the mid-term review.
In August 2022, Ma Zhongming went to Zhangye, Gansu Province. “You don’t want to live anymore! What if someone hears it?” When he learned about the corn seed production industry, a local corn seed production practitioner came to him specifically and handed it to him. A document describing some of the difficulties faced by the local seed production industry.
“This is a heavy sustenance.” Ma Zhongming said. After that, he visited many local companies, farmers, etc., and found out how long to stay in Zhangye? “Although it is the largest corn seed production base in the country, after decades of development, some problems need to be solved urgently to achieve sustainable development.
He found that corn seed production has many procedures and requires delicate operations, so she called the girl in front of her and asked her directly why. How could she know? It was because of what she did to the Li family and the Zhang family.do. The girl feels that not only does she have high requirements, but the net income of local farmers from corn seed production per mu is only about 1,780 yuan, which may dampen farmers’ enthusiasm for planting in the long run.
There are many reasons for the low income of farmers. Ma Zhongming said that the most direct reason is the low degree of local mechanization. Corn seed production is basically based on the production and sale of primary products, with a short industrial chain and low efficiency.
On the other hand, Zhangye, Gansu Province, has developed into a seed production base, benefiting from various factors such as sufficient local sunshine, few pests and diseases, and being located in an irrigated area. However, he found that due to long-term continuous cropping in corn seed production bases, which has lasted for more than 30 years in some areas, soil continuous cropping obstacles have become prominent, and the situation of mulching film residues has been severe, resulting in the deterioration of soil physical and chemical properties and increasing pest and disease problems. “The types of diseases and insect pests in corn seed production have increased from 18 in the 1980s to 73,” Ma Zhongming said.
Re-elected as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference this year, Ma Zhongming put forward a proposal to speed up the sustainable development capacity building of the corn seed industry in the Hexi Corridor.
“Fewer and fewer people are willing to farm. If we want to increase farmers’ enthusiasm for farming, we must increase farmers’ income.” Ma Zhongming believes that it is necessary to increase the level of agricultural mechanization, establish high-standard farmland, and support water-saving facilities. Increase canal systems and integrated water and fertilizer facilities to promote agricultural modernization, reduce planting costs, and increase farmers’ income; on the other hand, we should increase investment in science and technology and conduct scientific breeding to solve some of the current difficulties we are facing.
To this end, Ma Zhongming suggested launching the second phase construction project of the Gansu National Corn Seed Production Base, and at the same time establishing a high-standard seed production and breeding base and a seed industry industrial park, using technology to “escort” the cultivation of the seed industry, and focusing on solving the problem of grain storage. The key to planting, storing grain in the ground, and storing grain in water is to build the overall pattern of my country’s corn seed industry of “expansion in the south and expansion in the north”.