China's major grain-producing province launches germplasm pool

CHANGSHA -- Central China's Hunan province, one of the country's major grain producers, launched on Friday its first germplasm pool of crop resources, as an effort to strengthen comprehensive protection and utilization of germplasm resources.

Covering a construction area totaling nearly 700 square meters, the pool, with five storehouses and six functional areas, can preserve 150,000 pieces of germplasm resources.

So far, the pool has collected and stored 30,000 pieces of germplasm resources of various crops, including rice and pepper, and the number is expected to exceed 100,000 by 2030, said Bai Lianyang, an official with the Hunan Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

The general office of the State Council, or China's cabinet, issued a guideline in February, calling for stronger protection and more efficient utilization of germplasm resources, to ensure food security and underpin the foundation of rural revitalization strategy.

According to the guideline, the country will establish a sound and scientific protection and utilization system of germplasm resources by 2035, to achieve a top-level germplasm resource pool.