Xinjiang is advancing the construction of “Four Million-Mu” seed‑production bases.

According to reports, as of June 12, Xinjiang has finalized the construction scale and village-level spatial allocation for its “four one-million-mu” seed‑production bases covering wheat, corn, cotton, and specialty crops. By 2025, the total area of these seed‑production bases in Xinjiang will approach 4.2 million mu.

Among these, the wheat seed‑production base covers 1.31 million mu, primarily distributed across 50 counties and county-level cities in 11 prefectures; the corn seed‑production base spans 1.06 million mu, concentrated in 26 counties and county-level cities across 7 prefectures; the cotton seed‑production base totals 1.45 million mu, mainly located in 19 counties and county-level cities within 5 prefectures; and the specialty crop seed‑production base encompasses 380,000 mu, chiefly spread across 35 counties and county-level cities in 10 prefectures.

The “Four Million Mu” seed‑production base project is primarily aimed at land leveling, soil improvement, construction of irrigation and drainage systems as well as high‑efficiency water‑saving facilities, repair of farm roads, enhancement of farmland protection and ecological‑environmental conservation systems, installation of supporting power transmission and distribution infrastructure, strengthening agricultural science and technology services, and reinforcing post‑construction management and maintenance. The project seeks to establish a number of standardized seed‑production fields and comprehensively achieve the development of seed‑production bases in line with the “Five Modernizations”—scale, intensification, standardization, mechanization, and informatization.

Meanwhile, 60 regional high‑quality seed‑production bases are being established across Xinjiang, including 17 for cotton, 13 for corn, 19 for wheat, and 11 for specialty crops. The construction scope encompasses sun‑drying yards, warehouses and ancillary facilities, as well as civil engineering works such as seed‑quality inspection laboratories, agricultural machinery sheds, and seed‑processing workshops. These facilities will be equipped with agricultural machinery, seed‑processing equipment (including threshing, cleaning, drying, and coating systems), testing and analytical instruments, IoT systems, and seed‑logistics and traceability management information systems.

According to reports, once the project is completed, Xinjiang is expected to produce 1 billion kilograms (1 million tons) of commercial seeds annually, generating direct economic benefits of approximately RMB 10 billion per year. Specifically: wheat seed production will reach 458,500 tons, yielding direct benefits of RMB 1.375 billion; corn seed production will total 315,300 tons, with direct benefits of RMB 2.838 billion; cotton seed production will amount to 146,100 tons, generating direct benefits of RMB 1.023 billion; and specialty crop seed production will reach 7,800 tons, delivering direct benefits of RMB 5.454 billion.

The project, through innovative research on high-quality, superior varieties, further strengthens the technological innovation capacity of seed enterprises, enhances the supply of improved seeds for wheat, corn, cotton, and specialty crops, and promotes the transformation of the seed industry toward an integrated “breeding, testing, multiplication, promotion, and management” model. This will bolster the international competitiveness of the seed sector and safeguard national seed security and food security.

In addition, to advance the development of the “Four Million Mu” seed‑production bases, Xinjiang has convened experts to finalize four specialized construction plans—covering wheat, corn, cotton, and specialty crops—for the period 2019–2023. It has also prepared the “Overall Design Scheme for the Construction of the ‘Four Million Mu’ Seed‑Production Bases in the Autonomous Region” and submitted its recommendations on this initiative to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

According to available information, Xinjiang is currently leveraging the growth of its leading seed‑production enterprises to drive the expansion and diversification of the entire industry chain. The region ranks second nationwide in annual seed‑production acreage, with a total of approximately 3.5 million mu across Xinjiang (including the Production and Construction Corps). Annual seed production stands at around 1 million tons, of which roughly 300,000 tons are sold within the region.

Source: Tianshan Net