Hechi breeds 15 new crop varieties from 2016 to 2020

A total of 15 new crop varieties have been independently bred in Hechi and passed the approval of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) period, according to the Hechi municipal bureau of agriculture and rural affairs.

Ten of these varieties have been commercially developed by seed companies, which have contributed an annual yield of 300 tons, worth 110 million yuan ($16.7 million).

During the past five years, Hechi has built an innovative technology platform based on the Hechi Agricultural Science Research Institute to independently breed new crop varieties.

A total of 2,675 varieties of corn, rice, sugarcane, and soybeans were tested and identified, while 442 breeds were surveyed for germplasm resources studies. A total of 377 samples were collected and sent to the Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences for preservation and identification, which helped rescue the local endangered and characteristic resources.

In recent years, Hechi has strengthened development in silkworm, sugarcane, characteristic fruits and other agricultural products, livestock, as well as other industries with a scale of over 1 million yuan. The agricultural industry has maintained a positive trend of diversified and in-depth development, which has also given rise to seed industry development.