A key field observation and task advancement meeting for a major project — strategic research on the sustained enhancement of grain production capacity — was held in the city of Guyuan, in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, on Aug 14-15. The meeting was held under the guidance of the department of major R&D programs at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), which is driving the project. It was led by researcher Yin Changbin from the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) at CAAS. The meeting aimed to exchange strategies for enhancing grain production capacity and to show integrated technological models for increasing grain production capacity. It also aimed to strengthen the output of major achievements and their large-scale application — and provide scientific and technological support for the sustained enhancement of China's grain production capacity. More than 20 participants attended, including representatives from the IARRP, the China National Rice Research Institute, the Institute of Crop Sciences and the Institute of Food Science and Technology. Also at hand were representatives of the Guyuan branch of the Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, the potato industry development service center of Xiji county, and local planting cooperatives.

The northwest dry farming area is an important grain production base and a potential area for bolstering grain output capacity in China. The team has been addressing such issues as the low utilization of natural precipitation, the poor integration of quality seeds, methods and machinery and the extensive input of pesticides and fertilizers. It's been looking at soil depletion from continuous cropping, and excess supply caused by simultaneous potato harvests. The team has been conducting collaborative demonstrations to boost the production of potatoes and various staple crops in Guyuan for three consecutive years.

Participants visited the core demonstration area for improving potato production in Xiji county. There, they observed the integrated technological model that's been designed to spur output capacity. It's centered on high-quality and high-yield potato varieties, ridge mulching for moisture conservation, precise seeding, formula-based precision fertilization, and green prevention and control of pests, diseases and weeds. The tech model optimizes the structure of potato varieties and the potato-grain rotation system, promotes the balanced market entry of potatoes, reduces costs and increases overall efficiency. It is seen as being a model that can be reproduced and promoted elsewhere, for increasing potato production capacity in the northwest dry farming area.