China to launch campaign for agricultural innovation

The Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Project will be launched this year. The announcement was made by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) at a media briefing in Beijing on Jan. 21st, 2013. Vice Minister of Agriculture and CAAS President Li Jiayang attended the media briefing.

The Project is initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture, funded by the Ministry of Finance, and implemented by CAAS. It is an important move in agricultural science and technology, prioritizing China’s S&T institutional reform, S&T innovation capacity building and international competitiveness lift.

The Project aims at building CAAS into a world-class agricultural academy through the following measures:

1. A pro-innovation academic discipline system. Under the Project, a three-tier discipline system (discipline clusters, study subjects and research fields) is to be constituted to tackle research overlap and encourage innovation.

2. Sustained research programs. In light of research trend and China’s innovation needs in key technologies, priorities and tasks are to be identified for different disciplines to ensure long-term research.

3. Networking among institutes. Mechanism will be established among national institutes and colleges to share resources within and among discipline clusters.

4. Performance evaluation approach. The Project will introduce research performance evaluation into CAAS to guide resource allocation and enhance efficiency.

5. Open recruitment. CAAS will carry out global recruitment to attract highly-competent scientists across the world to work for China’s agricultural development.

The Project will cover prominent agricultural issues in China, such as breeding, animal disease control, and quality standards on agricultural products.

The 13-year Project will be progressively carried out in three phases, namely phase I (2013-2015), phase II (2016-2020) and phase III (2021-2025).