Two harvesters are busy collecting rice at dusk in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang Province on November 13, 2021. The 1,500 mu (100 hectares) of rice fields were originally abandoned salt fields. After cleaning up and leveling of the salt fields, the contractors began to plant wheat and rice in 2022 and achieved a successful harvest. Photo: VCG

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MOA) on Tuesday announced the top seed resources detected in its largest-ever agricultural germplasm resources census, as the country strives to achieve self-sufficiency in seed breeding, which has been elevated to a crucial part of protecting national security.

To achieve seed self-reliance, China began a three-year census starting in March 2021 of domestic crop, livestock, poultry and aquatic germplasm resources.

So far, the census has covered crops in 2,323 counties, as well as livestock and aquatic resources in over 95 percent of villages and counties, with major advances in protecting species living in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, Sun Haoqin, an official from the MOA, said at a press conference on Tuesday. 
Source: Global Times