HAIKOU /China/, Jan. 17. /TASS/. South China's Hainan Province will play a key role in China's preservation of plant genetic resources, the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences announced.

"We will continue to establish a base for the preservation of genetic resources, Hainan will play a key role in this," the Hainan Daily newspaper cited excerpts from an official statement made after a meeting of the organization on the 2022 targets.

The newspaper noted that the academy has a rich collection of sprout protoplasm with more than 50,000 samples. It is expected to make the island a "global seed production center" and "effectively contribute to maintaining a high supply of Chinese agricultural products".

The research organization reported that it already owns several large storage facilities for genetic resources in China. The academy has also established a number of greenhouses for growing all kinds of plants and 18 of these facilities are located in Hainan. Moreover, it is noted that the province has developed technologies for incubation and breeding domestic animals.

Important selective breeding projects

Hainan plays a key role in China's seed breeding program. Breeding projects carried out in the province attract the attention of several hundred research organizations, leading universities, and enterprises every year. Thousands of specialists from different regions of China, as well as from other countries, participate in them. The fate of China's leading breeder, the "father of hybrid rice" Yuan Longping (1930-2021), who regularly visited there in winter for the past more than 50 years, was closely connected with these developments.

The Chinese government plans to create an advanced research and production complex on the island in the coming years, capable of stimulating the rapid development of agriculture throughout the country. The authorities believe the complex will be able to significantly reinforce national food security.