(Yicai Global) March 5 -- China has had bumper harvests for 17 consecutive years and is able to protect its ‘iron ricebowl,’ but greater attention needs to be paid to seed preservation and diversity, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said today.

China is largely self-sufficient in seeds, but still lags behind international standards in some areas, Tang Renjian said. More effort should be made to cultivate new technologies, keep core seed resources and set up commercial seed companies. The country plans to stage a turnaround in its seed industry in the next ten years.

China’s first crop germplasm resource bank, for the preservation of grain genetic material, will be finished in September with as many as 1.5 million specimens, more than the US, Tang said. A gene bank for fish is being constructed and one for livestock and poultry is being assessed.

China has had a grain harvest of over 650 billion kilograms a year for six consecutive years, and the amount of grain per capita has stayed above the internationally recognized safety line of 400 kilograms for the last four years.

The country plans to add 6.6 million hectares of high-standard farmland this year.

Editor: Kim Taylor