China has long been committed to promoting humanitarian mine action cooperation with countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Friday.
Mao made the remarks commenting on the ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Joint Statement on Strengthening Humanitarian Mine Action Cooperation released after the ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in the Lao capital Vientiane on the same day.
"In Southeast Asia, landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) remains a serious issue. As ASEAN countries’ close neighbor, friend and partner, China has long been committed to humanitarian mine action cooperation with ASEAN. By providing assistance, training personnel, and sending experts, China has actively helped enhance the capacity for mine action of ASEAN Member States affected by landmines and other ERW and make lives safer and better for the local people," said Mao.
"The ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers’ Joint Statement on Strengthening Humanitarian Mine Action Cooperation speaks highly of China-ASEAN mine action cooperation, and identifies the way forward and next steps for the cooperation. This is a good document with vision, consensus and action, and will give fresh impetus to solving the issue of landmines and other ERW in Southeast Asia and regional peace and development. China stands ready to work with ASEAN countries to follow through the statement, continue to strengthen mine action cooperation, and jointly build a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable common home," the spokeswoman said.
China committed to promoting mine action cooperation with ASEAN: spokeswoman
China’s first intelligent field plant phenotype precision identification platform went into operation recently in Sanya City, south China’s Hainan Province, which is a milestone in the country’s development of intelligent breeding.
The phenotype of a plant is a term used to describe observable characteristics of the plant, such as its appearance, and some inherent physiological characteristics, such as resistance to drought and diseases.
In an experimental field of the National Nanfan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, a large piece of equipment is moving across the field. The equipment, called the field plant phenotype precision identification platform, can move according to the preset track and can be remotely controlled. While moving, the equipment can scan the plants with its six sensors, just like a CT machine for plants.
"The ultimate goal is to achieve high-throughput, large-scale, efficient and precise collection of germplasm resources, which can be four to five times higher than the efficiency of the traditional manual collection," said Jin Xiuliang, a researcher at the institute.
Although the equipment looks simple from the outside, it contains six high-precision image acquisition devices such as multi-spectral, thermal infrared, and chlorophyll fluorescence devices. Data can be collected at fixed times and points according to experimental needs, and the collection of a germplasm material can be completed within 30 seconds.
After the data collected through this platform is transmitted to the data analysis center, researchers can more quickly and accurately screen out germplasm resources with excellent traits, laying the foundation for subsequent crop breeding.
"The plant phenotype identification facility at the National Nanfan Research Institute is a milestone in the field of crop science in China. It can greatly enhance the independent innovation capabilities of germplasm innovation, gene mining, and variety breeding, and enhance the international competitiveness of China's seed industry," said Li Huihui, vice president of the institute.
China makes major progress in smart crop breeding
