"At the national Two Sessions, National People's Congress delegate and Dean of the Institute of Scientific Research at South China Agricultural University, Xie Qingmei, suggested that implementing the 'North Beans South Migration' strategy to expand soybean cultivation in South China can effectively alleviate the supply-demand contradiction of soybeans in China."
Xie Qingmei believes that implementing the "North Beans South Migration" is an effective way to alleviate the supply-demand contradiction of soybeans in China. Taking South China as an example, although Guangdong is not a major soybean producing area, it is at the forefront of soybean crushing and soy product processing in the country. For instance, the market value of soy sauce (brands like Haitian and Lee Kum Kee) alone exceeds a trillion CNY, accounting for one-third of the national market. Soybean meal is the main plant protein source for the livestock industry, and Guangdong has ranked as the top province in feed production for 11 consecutive years before 2018, with a production value of hundreds of billions of CNY. Therefore, there is a significant issue concerning raw material supply security.
"In South China, there are over 20 million mu of sugarcane and cassava, and over 30 million mu of young fruit trees, which can improve the re-cultivation index by planting early-maturing soybeans in rotation. South China has a huge potential for expanding soybean cultivation with over 50 million mu of potential land suitable for intercropping and rotation." Xie Qingmei believes that South China has the basic conditions for implementing the "North Beans South Migration" strategy. For example, South China has research teams capable of conducting collaborative research on soybeans, including the soybean research teams from South China Agricultural University and Guangzhou University. South China is also located in an economically developed tropical region, with its soy product processing industry ranking at the forefront domestically and in international cooperation.
Therefore, Xie Qingmei proposed three suggestions:
Promote the "North Beans South Migration" to become a national soybean strategy. It is suggested that relevant departments promote the "North Beans South Migration" to become a national soybean strategy, fully leverage the advantages of the new type of national system, strengthen top-level design, coordinate various forces in South China, including relevant provinces, research institutes, and enterprises, and comprehensively promote the implementation of the "North Beans South Migration" national strategy in terms of variety, cultivation, processing, agricultural machinery, subsidies, and storage.
Establish the "South China Soybean Collaborative Innovation Institute." It is recommended that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and other relevant departments layout and construct soybean technology innovation platforms in South China, support South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou University, and other relevant research institutes and enterprises to jointly establish the "South China Soybean Collaborative Innovation Institute," and provide comprehensive support from the source, such as bottleneck basic projects, talent cultivation, variety approval, intellectual property protection, and international cooperation.
Establish the major core project of "Highly Adaptable Super High-yielding Variety Breeding for North Beans South Migration and South Beans North Migration." It is suggested to fully utilize and analyze the advantages of tropical varieties, integrate northern and southern resource genes through conventional breeding and biological breeding, and cultivate breakthrough varieties suitable for different regions to assist in the transformation of the seed industry, which has important scientific and practical value.
