China

China-CGIAR Partnership

China has been collaborating with CGIAR Centers since the early 1970s, and became a CGIAR member in 1984. The CGIAR works through the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), the research arm of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Seven CGIAR Centers International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), International Potato Center (CIP), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and International Water Management Institute (IWMI), maintain regional offices in China.

Over 50 Chinese institutions have collaborated closely with CGIAR Centers. More than 3,400 Chinese scientists have received training at CGIAR Centers, many of whom are now occupying leadership positions throughout the CGIAR and at Chinese organizations. China’s partnership with CGIAR Centers focuses on major food crops (maize, potatoes, rice and wheat), land and water management, livestock, forestry, fisheries, and food policy. And as a result of this partnership, China has bred more than 260 crop varieties containing genetic material from CGIAR Centers.

Selected CGIAR Projects in China

Examples of the China-CGIAR Partnership

Raising Rice Productivity

Raising rice productivity: Rice is the most important food crop in China. High-yielding rice varieties developed by IRRI (including IR-8) were used by Chinese researchers well before a formal relationship was established in 1982. Since the opening of an IRRI liaison office in Beijing in 1997, IRRI and Chinese scientists have collaborated on 48 different projects with 18 on-going. Overall, IRRI’s impact in China has been extensive:

• About 90% of Chinese hybrid rice varieties — which account for about half of China’s rice production — have IRRI parentage.
• Since 1981, 37 modern varieties shared via IRRI’s breeding network have been released to Chinese rice growers providing 5.45MT in additional rice and US$465 million in additional income to farmers.

Combating rice pests, naturally: Diseases and insect pests pose serious threats to Chinese rice production. In 1997, IRRI led a program in collaboration with the Yunnan Agricultural University to “interplant” different rice varieties to exploit biodiversity as a way to resist pest attacks. By 2004, the technique had spread successfully to more than 200,000 ha in Yunnan Province allowing farmers to enjoy increased incomes of up to $150/ha. The New York Times described the project as a “stunning success” and one of the “largest agricultural experiments” ever.

Combating Rice Pests, Naturally

Diseases and insect pests pose serious threats to Chinese rice production. In 1997, IRRI led a program in collaboration with the Yunnan Agricultural University to “interplant” different rice varieties to exploit biodiversity as a way to resist pest attacks. By 2004, the technique had spread successfully to more than 200,000 ha in Yunnan Province allowing farmers to enjoy increased incomes of up to $150/ha. The New York Times described the project as a “stunning success” and one of the “largest agricultural experiments” ever.

Capacity Building and Research Collaboration

In addition to the 98 Chinese PhDs and MSc trained at IRRI since 1984, hundreds of Chinese researchers have been sponsored to attend important conferences and workshops overseas, including 113 different training programs and courses. Research collaboration has focused on the following areas:

• Molecular breeding: about 50 Chinese scientists involved;
• The Irrigated Rice Research Consortium: 8 institutes, about 16 Chinese scientists;
• Site Specific Nutrient Management: 7 institutes and about 10 Chinese scientists;
• IPM and biodiversity: about 100 Chinese scientists;
• Water saving: 5 Chinese institutes; and
• The International Network for the Genetic Evaluation of Rice: 13 institutes and about 50 Chinese scientists.

Fighting Hunger Through Improved Maize

According to IFPRI projections, demand for cereal crops, especially maize, will continue to increase dramatically over the next 20 years. Maize accounts for approximately 24% of the total harvest in China, and demand is also rising rapidly all across Asia. In an attempt to address some of these challenges, CIMMYT has planted more than one million ha of its maize varieties across China. CIMMYT through the Asian Maize Biotechnology Network (AMBIONET) collaborates with CAAS in applying advanced biotechnology for maize improvement throughout China. More than 100 Chinese scientists have participated in CIMMYT knowledge exchange programs on hybrid maize technology and seed production.

Reducing Disease in Roots and Tubers

China is one of the largest users of CIP germplasm worldwide and we have active collaboration with Chinese breeders in both crops in many regions. Since 2000, CIP and Chinese scientists have collaborated through the organization of South East Asian regional courses on potato and sweetpotato.

Sweet potato: In 1987, CIP began collaborating with Chinese scientists to develop new technologies to eliminate viral diseases in sweet potatoes. The techniques included new methods to identify viruses in sweet potato roots, and better systems for multiplying improved virus-free plant varieties. By the early 1990’s, these efforts helped boost sweet potato production by over 30% and expanding cultivated area to over 600,000 ha in Shandong Province.

Potato: In 1978, China and CIP worked together to develop a disease-resistant potato (CIP-24), which is grown on approximately 70,000 ha, principally in China’s drought-prone Northern provinces. CIP collaborates with the Root and Tuber Crop Research Institute of Yunnan Normal University and the Huize Agricultural Extension Center and has developed “Cooperation 88”, a high-yielding potato variety currently grown on more than 100,000 ha in Yunnan Province alone.

Winning Steps for Wheat

Wheat is China’s second most important food crop after rice, accounting for 25% of food production. CIMMYT is helping China address future increases in wheat demand in several aspects. The following show CIMMYT’s impacts:

• China has provided more than 1,000 commercial wheat lines to CIMMYT. In turn, China’s wheat program has received more than 15,000 experimental strains of wheat from CIMMYT.
• CIMMYT wheats contribute high yield potential, resistance to disease, and better quality to Chinese germplasm.
• CIMMYT and CAAS jointly operate an internationally recognized wheat quality program to meet the demand for quality improvement.
• CIMMYT and Chinese scientists have developed shuttle breeding programs for improving resistance to fusarium diseases and yellow rust.
• CIMMYT has trained over 100 Chinese wheat scientists that currently lead wheat breeding programs at provincial and national levels.
• CIMMYT and China have established an information and germplasm exchange program with the participation of more than 60 institutes across China.

Exchanging Knowledge on Hillside Agriculture

CIAT’s experience with hillside agriculture in the Andes (Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador) has led to partnerships and regional exchanges with related institutions in China’s Yunnan Province. CIAT, with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank, is facilitating joint field visits, fieldwork, workshops and visits to communities.

Buckwheat Revitalized

IPGRI has supported work on buckwheat in the mountainous regions of southwest China since the early 1990s. Studies of buckwheat with the Chengdu Institute of Biology, CAS, starting in 1996, indicated strong support for the conservation of buckwheat diversity on farms.

A second study, involving Zhaojue Agricultural Research Institute in Liangshan Autonomous Region of China and Chengdu Institute of Biology surveyed local farmers to discover how they handle and conserve the crop and mapped buckwheat biodiversity. The most recent development is to promote tartary buckwheat as a crop to improve livelihoods. A study in Shanxi Province indicated the high potential of buckwheat as a nutritious food, conferring better health, and suggested avenues for smaller farmers to process and market buckwheat products, thereby capturing more value from their harvest. In the laboratory, work with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences is focused on molecular characteristics of buckwheat, which will help farmers and scientists to breed better varieties more rapidly.

Partnerships to Improve Crop-Livestock Farming Systems

Mixed farming systems that integrate crop and animal production form the backbone of small-scale Asian agriculture. From 1999 to 2004, the Africa-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) collaborated with the Sichuan Animal Science Academy, the Yunnan Beef Cattle and Pasture Research Center, and national agricultural research systems in four Southeast Asian countries in a Crop-Animal System Research Network (CASREN). Funded by the Asian Development Bank, CASREN applied holistic and participatory research-for-development approaches.

ILRI began collaborating with Chinese scientists and institutions in Yunnan in 1999 and in Sichuan in 2002. CASREN projects provided farm communities with enhanced pig-feed technologies using sweet potatoes in Sichuan Province and enhanced smallholder production of beef cattle and goats in the rainfed maize-and-wheat farming systems of Yunnan Province.

ILRI’s sister Future Harvest Centre, the International Potato Center (CIP), became a research partner in the Sichuan project that greatly enhanced smallholder use of sweet potatoes as pig feed. The success of CASREN’s work in Sichuan, where many farm households more than doubled their incomes by adopting CASREN potato silage technologies, has induced the CGIAR System-wide Livestock Program to fund related research within China and Southeast Asia.

In May 2004, CAAS and ILRI established a Joint Laboratory on Livestock and Forage Genetic Resources (JLLFGR) within the CAAS Institute of Animal Sciences, in Beijing. ILRI and CAAS scientists working in this Joint Laboratory are applying state-of-the-art techniques to collect, characterize and conserve indigenous livestock and forage genetic resources in China and Southeast Asia. The Joint Laboratory is serving as a research platform to build biotechnology as well as genetics research capacity in the region.

Bed planting in the Yellow River

Serious water and soil erosion in the Yellow River has led to frequent basin-wide drought and floods. In 2000, an estimated 110 million Chinese lived in the basin area where food per capita was nearly 20% less than in the rest of China. The CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) is cooperating with the Yellow River Conservancy Commission which acts as a basin coordination institution to develop projects aimed at improving all aspects of water management. Under this umbrella, the CPWF works with several Chinese researchers and institutions on issues such as aerobic rice breeding, groundwater governance, and bed planting.

In one example of impact, from 1998 to 2003, CIMMYT extended bed planting in the Yellow River Basin’s Shandong Province from a few test plots to more than 26,000 ha. This particular method of water management involves planting crops on raised beds and applying inputs, including irrigation water in furrows. Bed planting improves soil fertility and structure and helps reduce erosion, water usage, herbicide use and facilitates mechanical and manual weeding. The technique has the potential to achieve 30-40% water savings in the river basin.

Pigeonpea in Chinese Diets

In 1998, ICRISAT researchers successfully introduced pigeonpea in Guangxi and Yunnan provinces primarily for soil conservation. Six years later the total area planted to pigeonpeas was over 60,000 ha. The pigeonpea is a hardy, drought-tolerant food legume high (20-22%) in protein and offers the added benefit of fixing nitrogen and other nutrients in the soil. CAAS is working to promote pigeonpea cultivation in three more provinces characterized by harsh, dry land farming conditions. Pigeonpea is suitable fodder for cattle, goats and rabbits. Recently, an export market for fresh pigeonpea vegetable seed has also been established and it has enhanced farmers’ income significantly.

Addressing Problems with China’s Timber Imports

In 1998, more than 4,000 people died in floods blamed on excessive deforestation. Subsequently, China implemented a widespread ban on logging. It was feared that this ban would lead to an increase in China’s timber imports and cause serious adverse consequences for forests in Southeast Asia and eastern Russia. In 2004, CIFOR and Forest Trends launched a multi-partner project that seeks to increase the level of information available about timber demand and trade and associated environmental impacts. The project will link with regional networks, identify leverage points where advocates can effect change, and develop policy relevant scenarios to help make forest industries and markets more responsive to the needs of smallholders and low-income producers.

Improving National Forest Policy

Since 1978, China has undergone important policy reforms affecting forest resources, creating major opportunities for promoting environmentally-friendly forestry techniques. In recent years, concerns have emerged regarding rising demand for timber, adequate distribution of benefits from forestry development and protecting the rights of local people living near forest areas. CIFOR has collaborated with the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, which encompasses the influential policy-making Task Force on Forests and Grasslands that is building support for policy reform through rigorous fieldwork and by strengthening China’s capacity for policy analysis. CIFOR has exchanged knowledge with policymakers of the Task Force through local seminars and major symposia involving sponsors from around the world.

Regional Pesticide Use Cut

Misuse and overuse of insecticide sprays by Asian rice farmers is dangerous to human health and damaging to the environment. In an attempt to cut pesticide use in the region, IRRI researchers have launched an innovative, basin-wide public information campaign in the Mekong River Delta that is reaching 92% of the delta’s 2.3 million farm households including in China. Overall, insecticide use has decreased by 72%.

Paddy production in the delta increased to 14 million tons (up from 11 million tons). The campaign, which won Scotland’s St. Andrew’s Environmental Prize, is now being extended to one million rice farmers along the Red River which flows through China and Vietnam, and into the South China Sea.

Related Links

Seminar on Opportunities for Strengthening the China-CGIAR Partnership