On the afternoon of October 24, 2024, the Shandong Provincial Training Workshop on Efficient and Green Sericulture Production Technologies and the Symposium on High-Quality Development of the Sericulture Industry were held in Qingzhou City. The event brought together more than 60 participants, including post experts from the national and provincial sericulture technology systems, heads and technical personnel from sericulture production management and technology extension agencies at the city and county levels, leaders of key sericulture enterprises and cooperatives across the province, as well as relevant specialists. The meeting was chaired by Zhao Ruixue, Section Chief of Division Two at the Provincial Agricultural Technology Extension Center. Gao Wensheng, Director of Division Two for Crops at the Provincial Agricultural Technology Extension Center, and Liu Jiansheng, Deputy Director of the Weifang Municipal Agricultural Technology Extension Center, delivered welcoming remarks, while Lian Haigang, Chairman of the Shandong Guangtong Silkworm Seed Group, gave a keynote address. Liu Jiping, a post scientist in the National Sericulture Technology System and professor at South China Agricultural University, presented on “Green Control of Sericultural Pests and Diseases”; Wang Yongqiang, a post scientist in the National Sericulture Technology System and Director of the Zhejiang Sericulture Research Institute, delivered a lecture on “Breeding and Application of New Domestic Silkworm Varieties”; Qian Heying, Professor at Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, and Zhang Yesun, Associate Professor at the same institution—both post experts in the National Sericulture System—as well as Zhou Wenlin, Researcher at the Sericulture Research Institute of the Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nie Lei, Associate Researcher and Deputy Chief of the Shandong Provincial Sericulture Post System, and Professors Gao Huiju and Yan Yinfa from Shandong Agricultural University, each shared insights on practical domestic silkworm varieties, disease-prevention technologies, breeding of artificial-feed varieties, industrialized sericulture, R&D of mulberry–silkworm production machinery and equipment, and wild-silkworm breeding techniques. Finally, Section Chief Zhao Ruixue summarized the afternoon’s training and exchange activities and outlined arrangements for the on-site visit scheduled for the morning of October 25.
Conference Venue
On the morning of October 25, in accordance with the agenda for the 2024 Provincial Training Workshop on High-Efficiency, Green, and Ecological Sericulture Technologies and the Symposium on High-Quality Development of the Sericulture Industry, more than 60 leaders, experts, and industry executives attended a site visit. They traveled by vehicle to Guangtong Group’s headquarters production base and its artificial-feed silkworm-rearing workshop, where they toured the automated production lines for cocoon stripping in silkworm-egg production and pupa identification, as well as the full-life-cycle rearing facility for raw silkworms fed with artificial feed and the artificial-feed maturation workshop.
On-site visit and exchange
Following the on-site visit, Guangtong Group extended a special invitation to more than ten experts from national and provincial sericulture industry technology systems to convene a focused symposium on high-quality development of the sericulture industry, with a particular emphasis on silkworm seed production, in the Group’s second-floor conference room. The symposium was attended by Lian Haigang, Fang Dewen, and Chang Wenyong of Guangtong Group. The session was chaired by Professor Zhang Shengxiang of Shandong Agricultural University. Researcher Fang Dewen of Guangtong Group outlined several key challenges hindering the enhancement of silkworm seed production capacity, including research into mechanization of post-seed-production processes, breakthroughs in the prevention and control of microsporidiosis, and the development of all-stage rearing techniques using artificial feed for raw silkworms. He expressed the hope that the attending experts would engage in joint exchanges and discussions, deepen collaboration, and undertake targeted research initiatives, thereby making a positive contribution to the upgrading and modernization of China’s silkworm seed industry. In response, the experts engaged in lively exchanges and deliberations on the existing pain points in silkworm seed production, drawing on their respective expertise within the sericulture system to offer insights and recommendations. Zhao Ruixue, Section Chief at the Provincial Agricultural Technology Extension Center, summarized the discussions, noting that Guangtong has undertaken extensive work in scientific and technological innovation, setting a leading example for the industry. She emphasized that agricultural extension agencies should serve as a bridge between research institutions and enterprises, accelerating the translation and application of research findings; such specialized symposiums are particularly effective in addressing the practical problems faced by businesses. Researcher Guo Guang from the Sericulture Research Institute of the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences put forward four key recommendations: first, strengthen collaboration among extension agencies, universities, research institutions, and enterprises to advance scientific and technological R&D; second, promote seamless integration between the national and provincial sericulture systems; third, pursue cross-disciplinary integration—“thinking beyond sericulture to better understand sericulture”—to achieve all-round development; and fourth, integrate intelligent, digital, and mechanized technologies in R&D and application to further drive high-quality development of the sericulture industry. Finally, Lian Haigang, Chairman of Guangtong Group, highlighted the most pressing challenges confronting the development of the sericulture industry and urged the experts to conduct innovative research in areas such as industry standards, the development of mechanized equipment, optimization of mulberry varieties and leaf quality, and formulation of artificial feed. He stressed that Guangtong is keenly in need of the experts’ advice and suggestions, welcoming them to apply their research findings to trials at Guangtong Group. Guangtong, he added, will do its utmost to scale up and strengthen these research outcomes. At the same time, he expressed the hope that the experts would lend greater attention and support to Guangtong in shaping policies for the development of the sericulture industry, increasing support for the sector, fostering new drivers of productivity, and working together to help Shandong’s sericulture industry achieve even greater success.
On-site Symposium on High-Quality Development of the Sericulture Industry: Special Session on Silkworm Seed Production
