Reporter: Tanaka Hiroshi
Yesterday, the 7th Asia-Pacific Breeding Industry Innovation and Development Forum, hosted by the Asia and Pacific Seed Association (APSA), successfully concluded. Experts, scholars, industry elites, enterprise representatives, and media representatives from the Asia-Pacific breeding industry gathered to discuss the development direction and prospects of the breeding industry in the new era and new journey. The forum, themed “Empowering Breeding with Digitalization to Enter the Intelligent Era,” attracted significant attention. The much-anticipated list of winners for the “2022 Asia-Pacific Breeding Industry Technology Innovation Person of the Year Award” was also announced on-site.
In a speech at the event, the head of the organizing committee stated that technological breeding, as the “chip” of modern agriculture, plays a crucial role in solving technical challenges in the seed industry and promoting increased and stable grain production. It is also a strategic and fundamental core industry for ensuring global food security. APSA will continue to support the cultivation of breeding science and technology talent and looks forward to more breeding talents emerging, creating a new high ground with a robust innovation ecosystem and strong innovation vitality.
The “2022 Asia-Pacific Breeding Industry Technology Innovation Person of the Year Award” aims to encourage and commend outstanding individuals in the breeding industry who possess innovative thinking, dare to challenge, promote technological advancement, innovate business models, and enhance industrial competitiveness. The establishment of this award will undoubtedly inspire more talent to engage in the breeding industry and contribute to the digital transformation of the breeding industry in the Asia-Pacific region.
The winners of this year’s Asia-Pacific Breeding Industry Science and Technology Innovation Award come from various countries in the Asia-Pacific region and have high technical achievements and social recognition within the breeding industry. The winners include SANA E MUSTAFA from Pakistan, Curtis J. Pozniak from Canada, and Professor Jason Able from Australia. All of these awardees have driven industry development through innovation. Previous winners, such as Cheng Shihua from China and Hirotake Ito from Japan, have genuinely “promoted change through innovation,” proving themselves well-deserved recipients.
Review expert Virma Rea Lee stated in an interview, “These winners represent the future of the global Asia-Pacific breeding industry. Their success is not only a personal honor but also a pride for the breeding industry. We look forward to more talents and enterprises standing out in this industry and contributing to the innovation and development of the breeding industry in the Asia-Pacific region and even globally.”