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The planting industry is crucial in ensuring food security in China. The development of the planting industry has underpinned the country’s historic transition from merely achieving food sufficiency to enjoying high-quality diets, consequently promoting the gradual improvement of dietary quality among residents. In the new era, the development of the Chinese planting industry faces challenges from internal and external risk factors, such as resource environment pressure, extreme climate impacts, and unstable international geopolitical situations. This study predicts the food supply and demand situations in 2035 and 2050. Results show that net imports of grain in China will mainly focus on soybeans and corn, while the self-sufficiency rate of rapeseed and sugar will continue to decline, the self-sufficient rate of peanuts and fruits will rise after declining first, and the vegetables will be more than self-sufficient. Thus, this study provides an overview and summary of the challenges faced by China’s planting industry regarding food security and proposes strategic ideas and policy recommendations for ensuring food security in the new era. These recommendations include improving the planting industry’s production capacity and structure, promoting low-carbon production and the efficient use of resources , optimizing residents’ consumption structure and health concepts, encouraging agricultural technology innovation and equipment development, and innovating new business entities. Major projects regarding technology innovation, quality improvement, ecological protection, and protein substitution are also proposed. Furthermore, we suggest adhering to the overall strategy of “ensuring basic selfsufficiency of grain and absolute security of staple food”, clarifying the industry development priorities by regions, improving the agricultural infrastructure and technology shortcomings, and perfecting the strategic system for responding to major crises, thereby enhancing the level of agricultural development and effectively ensuring food security in China.

Food security in China is facing new challenges, including instability of the international supply chain, transformation and upgrading of the food system, and increased pressure to further reduce carbon emissions, making the future supply and demand situation of food in China unoptimistic. Therefore, it is imperative to deepen research on national food security strategies. As is predicted using the China Agricultural Sector Model, China’s grain supply and demand gap will reach the peak (1.66 × 108 t) in 2030 and its food self-sufficiency rate will continuously decline; however, the gap is expected to drop from 2035–2050. From 2020–2050, the total demand for livestock products, aquatic products, rapeseed, and sugar will continuously grow while their net imports will maintain growth. To address the prominent problems regarding food security in China in terms of farmland, supply chain, nutritional structure, systemic risk, and technological innovation, we propose the establishment of an all-encompassing approach to food. Additionally, food security should be maintained by relying on domestic production and supported by moderate imports and technological innovation. An overall food-security strategy that features self-sufficiency of grains, self-reliance of major agricultural products, and national food sovereignty should be implemented. We should hold on to the bottom line of maintaining a selfsufficiency rate of 97% for staple grains, 90% for grains, and 80% for overall grain supply. Focusing on the goals of revitalizing the seed industry, boosting land capacity, preventing and mitigating disasters, and achieving high efficiency and low carbon, we suggest a series of major projects for upgrading the seed industry, constructing high-standard grain fields, guaranteeing regional food security, promoting green and low-carbon development of agriculture, and substituting conventional feed protein. Furthermore, major measures should be adopted to strengthen food demand management, expand food supply chains, and enhance risk control, thereby ensuring the quantity, quality, and nutritional security of national food.

Food concerns national livelihood and food security is vital for national security. In the context of “dual circulation” (i.e., domestic and international economic circulation) in China, clarifying the basic situation and challenges of food security and exploring effective strategies for food development are crucial for ensuring stable national development. Using national macro statistics, we first analyzed the basic situation of food security in China and the challenges it faces in the context of “dual circulation”. Subsequently, we made a macro study on national food security and proposed the goals, strategic paths, major projects, and feasible countermeasures for ensuring national food security. Our study indicates that there exists a large gap between food supply and demand, a high degree of external dependence, and a large amount of imports of feed protein in China, as well as challenges including the difficulty in substituting feed protein domestically, rigidness of environmental restrictions on soil and water resources, low incentives for farmers to grow grains, and insufficient risk-resistant capabilities of the food security system. Moreover, we proposed a series of major projects, such as demonstration for upgrading grain production capacity, new protein resource substitution, green and lowcarbon planting and breeding circulation, development and utilization of international grain resources, and research and development demonstration of future foods. Several development strategies were further suggested, including the establishment of a food security guarantee system, moderate expansion of cultivated land areas, sustained increase in oil-bearing plant production, steady resumption of a multiple cropping system in South China, and sustained advancement of a rotational cropping system in North China.

Accurate identification and effective control of food security risks are crucial for national security. This study constructs a food security risk system that comprises nine major types of risk sources from the perspective of the entire industrial chain. Our research identifies seven main risks that China’s food security faces at the new stage: relatively lagging breeding technologies, prominent contradiction between resource supply and demand, frequent disasters, significant decline in farmers’ willingness to grow grains, increased uncontrollability of market trade, inadequacy in policy compliance and stability, and frequent impacts of unexpected events. Based on this, a strategic concept is proposed, that is, a food security risk management and control system that combines early identification, normal monitoring, and emergency warning and is capable of entire industrial chain risk identification, whole-process management, and multi-level linkage. Furthermore, the following strategies for controlling food security risks are proposed: (1) promoting food security legislation, (2) launching a key scientific and technological project for constructing a national food security risk control system, (3) improving infrastructure and defense systems, and (4) optimizing market-oriented means and tools for risk management. The research results are expected to provide decision-making references for promoting the modernization of China’s food security governance system and capacities.

Leaf inclination angle (LIA) and tillering impact the winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) population canopy structure. Understanding their effects on water use (WU) parameters and yield can guide water-saving strategies through population control. In this study, six near-isogenic lines (NILs) and their parents were selected as materials. These special materials were characterized by varying tillering at the current sowing density, a similar genetic background, and, particularly, a gradient in mean flag leaf LIA. The investigation focused on the jointing to early grain-filling stage, the peak water requirement period of wheat crops. Population-scale transpiration (PT) and evaporation from the soil surface (E) were partitioned from total evapotranspiration (ET) by the means of micro-lysimeters. The results showed decreased PT, E, and ET with increased population density (PD) within a narrow density range derived from varying tillering across genotypes. Significant correlations existed between PD and ET, E, and PT, especially in the wettest 2017–2018 growing season. Within such narrow PD range, all the correlations between WU parameters and PD were negative, although some correlations were not statistically significant, thereby suggesting the population structure's predominant impact. No significant correlation existed between LIA and both ET and PT within the LIA range of 35°–65°. However, significant correlations occurred between LIA and E in two growing seasons. Genotypes with similar LIA but different PD produced varied ET; while with similar PD, the four pairs of genotypes with different LIA each consumed similar ET, thus highlighting PD's more crucial role in regulating ET. The yield increased with higher LIA, and showed a significant correlation, emphasizing the LIA's significant effect on yield. However, no correlation was observed with PD, indicating the minor effect of tillering at the current sowing density. Therefore these results might offer valuable insights for breeding water-saving cultivars and optimizing population structures for effective field water conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of agricultural practices on ecosystem carbon storage have acquired widespread concern due to its alleviation of rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Recently, combining of furrow-ridge with plastic film mulching in spring maize ecosystem was widely applied to boost crop water productivity in the semiarid regions of China. However, there is still limited information about the potentials for increased ecosystem carbon storage of this tillage method. The objective of this study was to quantify and contrast net carbon dioxide exchange, biomass accumulation and carbon budgets of maize (Zea maize L.) fields under the traditional non-mulching with flat tillage (CK) and partial plastic film mulching with furrow-ridge tillage (MFR) on the China Loess Plateau. Half-hourly net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) of both treatments were synchronously measured with two eddy covariance systems during the growing seasons of 2011 through 2013. At same time green leaf area index (GLAI) and biomass were also measured biweekly. Compared with CK, the warmer and wetter (+1.3°C and +4.3%) top soil at MFR accelerated the rates of biomass accumulation, promoted greater green leaf area and thus shortened the growing seasons by an average value of 10.4 days for three years. MFR stimulated assimilation more than respiration during whole growing season, resulting in a higher carbon sequestration in terms of NEE of -79 gC/m2 than CK. However, after considering carbon in harvested grain (or aboveground biomass), there is a slight higher carbon sink (or a stronger carbon source) in MFR due to its greater difference of aboveground biomass than that of grain between both treatments. These results demonstrate that partial plastic film mulched furrow-ridge tillage with aboveground biomass exclusive of grain returned to the soil is an effective way to enhance simultaneously carbon sequestration and grain yield of maize in the semiarid regions.

Revealing how plant architecture affects the responses of canopy temperature depression (CTD), water use (WU), and grain yield to population density (PD) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) would help explore a water‐saving pathway related to managing population. This study was conducted over three consecutive years under rainfed and supplemental irrigation conditions. The flat‐leafed Jinmai 47 and upright‐leafed Jing 411 genotypes were grown at high population density (HD), medium population density (MD), and low population density (LD); seeding rates were 450, 675, and 900 seeds m−2, respectively). CTD peaked at MD in Jinmai 47 but reached the highest at HD in Jing 411. WU generally increased with increasing PD but remained unchanged from LD to MD in Jinmai 47 under the two water conditions, while it remained unchanged from MD to HD under supplemental irrigation condition in Jing 411. Yield increased with increasing density in both genotypes under the two water conditions. It is thus clear that Jinmai 47 gained higher yield but did not consume more water at MD than at LD under the two water conditions; Jing 411 obtained higher yield at the expense of similar amount of water at HD than at MD under supplemental irrigation condition. The grain yield and WU responses of wheat crops to PD implied that through appropriately adjusting PD in combination with plant architecture and water condition, the dual goals of optimizing yield and effectively saving irrigation water could be realized synchronously. Core Ideas: Plant architecture influences canopy temperature and water use responses to population density in wheat.Canopy temperature depression reached its peak and then declined with increasing population density in wheat.Water use and grain yield generally increased as sowing density increased from 450 to 900 seeds m−2.Water use did not change at sowing density of 450–675 seeds m−2 for Jinmai 47 and 675–900 seeds m−2 for Jing 411. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]