Central Plains Agricultural Valley
Seeds are the "chip" of agriculture. Since ancient times, seeds have been key in the planting industry chain, bearing directly on the output and quality of crops. Henan, with an old agro-civilization and abundant food crops, is an important breadbasket of China. It has given top priority to grain production, fully implemented the strategy on sustainable use of the arable land and application of technologies to ensure national food security, ameliorated the two key factors of seeds and soil, and continuously improved the conditions and technologies for agricultural production.
In April 2022, the provincial government unveiled a plan for developing a "Central Plains Agricultural Valley," which specified the major goals, geographical location, key tasks, and working mechanisms. In June 2023, it revealed the Development Plan for the Central Plains Agricultural Valley (2022-2035), which clarified the development strategy, policies and measures, and major projects.
The Central Plains Agricultural Valley has a planned area of 1,611 square kilometers with 1.44 million residents. Designed to be a national, internationalized highland of agricultural innovation, the Agricultural Valley will support bio-breeding, modern planting and breeding, farm and sideline product processing, biotechnologies and products, agricultural equipment manufacturing, and modern agricultural services. It will serve as four centers – national seed industry innovation center, modern grain industry innovation center, agro-technological achievements transfer and commercialization center, and international agricultural cooperation and exchange center, and two demonstration zones – agricultural high-tech industrial demonstration zone and smart (digital) agricultural demonstration zone. With its layout matching well with the provincial territorial space plan, the Central Plains Agricultural Valley is divided into four sections – a world-class agricultural science zone, a hub of high-tech commercialization, a center of grain and oil industries, and a demonstration zone for food processing industry.
The place is expected to become a first-class seed innovation platform and a demonstration zone of agricultural and rural modernization in China by 2025. By 2035, it will have in place world-class clusters of agro-technological infrastructure and scientific research and experiment demonstration bases, as well as a global highland of food technology innovation. As a regional powerhouse of agricultural innovation, it will fully engage in the Belt and Road agro-technological innovation system and guarantee national food security at a higher level.
“中原農谷”
種子是農業的“芯片”。自古以來，種子便一直處于種植產業鏈的最前端，農作物的產量和質量都和種子直接相關。河南省地處中原，農耕文明悠久，糧食作物豐富，是中國重要的糧食主產區，素有“國人糧倉”美譽。中共十八大以來，河南把糧食生產擺在各項工作重中之重的位置，全面落實藏糧于地、藏糧于技戰略，聚焦種子和耕地兩個要害，農業生產條件和技術水平不斷提高。
2022年4月，河南省人民政府印發《“中原農谷”建設方案》（以下簡稱《方案》），明確了“中原農谷”建設的目標要求、區域布局、重點任務和工作機制。2023年6月，河南省人民政府印發《中原農谷發展規劃（2022—2035年）》（以下簡稱《規劃》），進一步明確了“中原農谷”發展戰略、政策措施、重大工程項目等。
“中原農谷”總規劃面積為1611.83平方千米，總人口超過144萬人。在功能定位方面，“中原農谷”聚焦建設國家級、國際化農業創新高地，大力發展生物育種、現代種養、農副產品加工、生物技術產品、農機裝備制造、現代農業服務等產業，打造國家種業科技創新中心、現代糧食產業科技創新中心、農業科技成果轉移轉化中心、農業對外合作交流中心（即“四大中心”），以及農業高新技術產業示范區、智慧（數字）農業示范區（即“兩個示范區”）。在功能布局方面，“中原農谷”與國土空間規劃相銜接，確定核心區為國際一流農科“芯”城，西區為高新技術轉化集成地，東區為糧油產業經濟集聚地，南區為食品加工產業示范區。
按照《方案》《規劃》，到2025年，“中原農谷”將建成國內一流的種業創新平臺，成為帶動全省乃至全國農業農村現代化的示范引領區；到2035年，“中原農谷”將建成世界一流的農業科技基礎設施集群、科研試驗示范基地集群和全球糧食科技創新高地，成為國家區域性農業創新核心力量，深度融入“一帶一路”農業科技創新體系，從更高水平上筑牢國家糧食安全根基。
