On March 25, Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences (NAAFS) opened a new research laboratory on corn, one of 50 national laboratories involved in corn technology.

Corn is the most important grain crop in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. About 27 percent of its cultivated area, or 200,000 hectares, is for corn. The region's corn output accounts for 46.5 percent of its total grain output.

At the end of 2007, a modern agriculture industry technology system project was launched in 10 pilot agricultural industries to gather talent in developing, integrating and demonstrating the shared or key agriculture technologies. Up to now, NAAFS' researches in eight agriculture industries have been included in the system.