A project partly delivered by the Xinyi Forestry Research Institute in Maoming has won first prize at the 2020 Guangdong Science and Technology Awards - the first time that the institute has garnered such an award.

The Guangdong Science and Technology Awards, sponsored by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, are granted to individuals or organizations that have made outstanding contributions to scientific and technological progress, as well as economic and social development. It is the highest honor for scientific and technological achievements in the province.

The project - the Development and Industrialization of New Germplasm for Dual Use of Pine Resin Materials in South China - was jointly completed by the Guangdong Academy of Forestry, South China Agricultural University, the Xinyi Forestry Research Institute, the Yingde Forestry Research Institute, and the Taishan Hongling Seed Orchard.

Masson pine is one of the most important industrial raw forest materials and ecological restoration tree species in China. Since 1982, the Xinyi Forestry Research Institute has been carrying out genetic improvement research into masson pine, and has bred 10 fine masson pine families, with a resin gain of more than 24 percent.

It also bred 11 hybrid masson pine single plants, whose volume growth and resin yield increased by 132.57 percent and 87.72 percent respectively, compared with the existing varieties.

Over the past 40 years, the Xinyi Forestry Research Institute has produced more than 10,000 kilograms of seeds, cultivated more than 50 million masson pine seedlings, and developed over 1.5 million mu (100,000 hectares) of masson pine planting areas in and out of the province, helping rural revitalization and targeted poverty alleviation.