Text by Xiaofeng Li; Photos by Nanfang Rural Newspaper(Agriculral Wealth Magazine)
On December 12, 2020 the 19th Guangdong Seed Expo and the 2020 World Conference on Digital Agriculture opened in Kemulang, Guangzhou. With the theme of “Digital Agriculture introducing the Future Creative Energy to Modern seed Industry” taking high-standard field exhibition as the platform and digital agricultural science and technology as the core, through the innovative integration model of “booth exhibition + field exhibition + N”, the conference deeply integrates digital and seed industry and gathers the innovative elements of digital agriculture development. Empower the modern seed industry and promote the high-quality development of modern agriculture.
Mr. Gu Xingwei, secretary of the party group and director of the Guangdong Agricultural and Rural Department, said that this expo held the digital agriculture and seed industry expo together for the first time, focusing on the application of digital scenes in modern agriculture, creating a new direction for the demonstration and application of a new generation of digital agriculture, and inviting international top science and technology enterprises, agricultural enterprises, scientific research institutions, modern agricultural industrial parks etc. to participate in the comprehensive demonstration of new technologies, new models, new equipments, new business type and so on.
Han Yan, assistant representative of the representative office of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in China, said that the popularization and development of information technology has brought opportunities to the food system and the development of agriculture and rural areas. In recent years, China has vigorously promoted the strategy of rural revitalization and the digitization of agriculture, which has brought new ideas and opportunities to global food production.
Seed industry is the basic and strategic core industry of the country, the “chip” of agricultural development, the basis of national food security, so it is the core element of Guangdong Seed Expo.
At this year’s Guangdong Seed Expo more than 6000 excellent new and characteristic varieties from China and abroad were on display, representing cutting-edge and top scientific and technological achievements, highlighting the supporting role of variety quality in the development of the industry. Ms. Wang visiting the Expo for the first time this year and was attracted by the new varieties of vegetables in the field “all kinds of novel vegetable varieties are beyond my imagination. I hope I can eat them at the dinner table in the future."
The simultaneous holding of the 2020 World Conference on Digital Agriculture has injected new momentum into the Guangdong Seed Expo. In the comprehensive exhibition area of digital agriculture, well-known enterprises such as Bayer, Netfield, Alibaba, JD.com, country Garden Agriculture, Huawei, Baidu, Jifei, Dajiang and other well-known Chinese and foreign enterprises at home were represented.
The 9th Kemulang Seed Industry Forum focused on the digital seed industry, and specifically development trends of the industry, and accelertion of promotion of the deep integration of information technology and the seed industry. The "1+ 9" series of forums themed on "Digital Light on fertile soil" focused on the exchange of views and intellectual collision around digital technology, digital theory and digital application, and the creation of a digital agricultural highland through a new marketing exhibition, titled "Digital Agriculture-visible change" with cased exhibitions that centered on digital technology, digital theory and digital applications.
Guangzhou Seed Trade Associaioon was responsible for another exhibition area: the 19th Guangdong Seed Industry Expo 2020 [Nanyang Conference area], which was organized as in the conventional exhibition method that Guangzhou Seed Expo is known for, featuring hotel rooms converted into exhibition rooms. There were 346 enterprises represented at the conference room (product experience area); the average number of visitors was more than 2,500 per day. In addition, the Guangzhou Seed Trade Association was also responsible for the Nansha Field Exhibition. In 2020, in the spring of Nansha Exhibition, 63 exhibitors (14 outside the province + 14 abroad), 28 special areas, a total of 1076 varieties; in autumn, 46 exhibitors (20 outside the province), 659 varieties, 13 special areas including eggplant , leaf vegetables, melons, fresh corn, etc.; an area of 300mu (greenhouse 50 mu); more than 1,000 visitors on the day of the opening ceremony. 76 varieties recommended by experts.
According to the usual practice, on December 10, 2020, Guangzhou Seed Trade Association held a welcome party, themed "Develop together, no matter with Wind or Rain". Held at the Nanyang Changsheng Conference Center, the party served to facilitate as an exchange and cooperation platform for enterprises to promote the external development of the seed industry. People from various seed industries gathered together, and more than 600 representatives of national seed associations, provincial and municipal seed associations, and seed enterprises were invited to the welcome dinner.
The Guangdong Seed Expo has been successfully held for 19 years, and this Expo shows the results of the multi-dimensional integration of digital science and technology and the seed industry, forming a large-scale operation show of the whole agricultural industry chain, highlighting advanced agricultural scientific and technological achievements, establishing a new direction for the practical application of a new generation of digital agriculture, and creating a national, international and comprehensive large-scale digital agricultural platform.
According to statistics, the Guangdong Seed Expo demonstrates and popularizes thousands of fine varieties every year, applies and popularizes nearly 100 main promotion technologies and equipments, attracts more than 1000 well-known enterprises to participate in the expo, and directly increases farmers' income by nearly 3 billion yuan a year. More than 100,000 excellent and rare and special varieties of crops from around the world have been exhibited through this platform, and more than 1 million people have attended thus far.
