Anhui’s Fruit Industry Technology System Drives High-Quality Development During 14th Five-Year Plan
It has been learned that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Anhui’s Fruit Industry Technology System has insisted on rooting in the grassroots and serving the front line. By innovating promotion models, breaking through key technologies and cultivating high-quality varieties, it has injected strong scientific and technological momentum into the high-quality development of the province’s fruit industry, effectively driving farmers’ income increase and ecological optimization.
In terms of grassroots services, the system has innovatively adopted an industrial guidance model integrating chief experts, post experts, test stations, agricultural technicians, science and technology mission teams, business entities, bases and marketing to carry out in-depth technology promotion.
According to incomplete statistics, post experts have conducted more than 300 on-site investigations, held over 400 technical service sessions, trained more than 12,000 fruit growers, demonstrated and promoted more than 40 new varieties, technologies, models and equipment, with a technical radiation area of 2.8 million mu. Meanwhile, the system has actively guided entities in brand building, helped establish 10 well-known local brands, supported several products to be included in "Anhui High-Quality Agricultural Products", promoted two famous fruits to obtain national geographical indication product protection, and helped a "Science and Technology Courtyard" for Taihu Cuiyu pears be approved as a national-level Science and Technology Courtyard.
Major breakthroughs have been made in key technological research. In the field of seed industry innovation, the system has integrated resources from national peach, pear and grape industry technology systems, and continuously made efforts in basic fruit tree research. The chief expert team has achieved important progress in the research on the molecular mechanism of early-maturing bud mutation in peaches, first discovering that epigenetic changes on the 4th chromosome of peaches are the key cause of early-maturing bud mutation of "Lixia Hong" peaches. Relevant achievements have been published in the internationally renowned journal New Phytologist, opening a new chapter for basic fruit tree research in Anhui. In addition, the system has completed cherry genome assembly and pear pan-genome research, laying a foundation for molecular breeding. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, a total of 69 scientific and technological papers have been published, including 24 included in SCI, 30 national patents have been authorized (including 2 overseas), and 13 molecular markers related to fruit quality have been developed.
Achievements in variety innovation have been fruitful. The system has successfully bred and promoted 38 new fruit tree varieties, including 9 that have obtained national plant variety rights. At the same time, 138 new and high-quality varieties (lines) have been introduced from home and abroad for regional test screening, greatly enriching the selection of fruit tree germplasm in the province, helping realize annual supply of fresh fruits and increasing the per mu benefit by more than 1,500 yuan.
Green, high-quality and efficient technologies have been widely applied. Eleven technologies developed and integrated by the system have been selected as national and provincial main agricultural promotion technologies, and more than 30 achievements have been registered as provincial scientific and technological achievements.
It has formulated 15 local standards and compiled 4 monographs. By promoting green technologies such as UAV plant protection and sex pheromone biological control, pesticide use has been reduced by 30%, and the rate of high-quality fruits has increased by more than 20%. An efficient green prevention and control technology for peach fruit flies has been recognized by the national peach industry technology system and is planned to be promoted as a national model. Smart agriculture technologies have been implemented in demonstration bases, reducing labor costs by more than 25%.
Platform support capacity has been significantly enhanced. The national peach industry technology system has added a "Hefei Comprehensive Test Station" in Anhui, and relying on the system, several provincial and ministerial-level platforms have been approved. Post experts have taken the lead in undertaking more than 30 scientific research projects. Meanwhile, germplasm resource nurseries for peaches, green plums and pears in Anhui have been built, 198 local characteristic germplasm resources have been newly collected and preserved, and more than 2,000 live fruit tree germplasms have been kept. Three new R&D institutions have been established in several regions, and multiple experimental demonstration bases have been built in different areas.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the per mu benefit of main fruits in Anhui exceeded 10,000 yuan, a record high. The fruit industry has played an important role in promoting ecological optimization and farmers’ income increase, providing strong support for comprehensive rural revitalization.
