In 2018, corn seeds
varieties with special attitudes like pest and disease resistance or lodging-
and density-tolerant will get great attention as demand is booming. Investments
in foreign companies and imports are leading the knowledge to Chinese labs to
improve domestic outdated practices.
According
to market intelligence firm CCM, China’s corn seed industry is on the direction
to improve its competitiveness in China, supported by the agricultural
supply-side reform in the country. Popular varieties in the market will benefit
the most in 2018, but special breeds also have a prosperous market potential to
fill in some gaps in the niche markets of China’s seeds market, therefore
offering high investment opportunities for companies.
Corn
varieties with special beneficial attributes will get the greatest attention in
2018. The most important attributes are hereby multi-resistant corn varieties,
especially stalk and ear rot resistant types, environmental friendly corn
varieties with significant resistant to pests and diseases, as well as lodging-
and density-tolerant corn varieties.
Zhengdan
958 is a good example of a multi-resistant corn variety with a huge prospect in
China’s domestic market. This seed belongs to China’s largest corn varieties in
the market. The patent for it expired on January 1, 2017, which boosted the
attention of manufacturers and farmers. Zhengdan 958 shows multi-resistance
against several conditions like high weather conditions, pests, and diseases.
These characteristics grant it a key promotion place by the Ministry of Agriculture
of the People’s Republic of China for many years and even leads to the most
planted corn variety in China.
Jingnongke
728 is a lodging- and density-tolerant corn variety in China that is suitable
for mechanised planting. According to CCM’s research, the seed will be in the
focus of research and development in China 2018, as it belongs to the first
approved mechanical handling corn varieties in the country. This kind of corn
varieties is witnessing boosting demand, due to the fact that China’s largest
corn farming area is prone to consistent rain, drought, and flood, as the
occurrences in 2017 showed.
What’s
more, due to the agricultural structural reform and the connected replacement
of grain crop with feed crop cultivation, the planting area of silage corns has
surged in 2017 and is estimated to rise significantly further in 2018. Although
general silage corns like Xianyu 335 are widely grown currently, more special
varieties are being promoted and have gained acceptance from some large-scale growers
and downstream poultry as well as livestock farmers. If more high-yield and
high-quality silage corn varieties passed examinations and approvals, the
silage corn market will be more prosperous in the future.
China’s
corn seed variety certification has witnessed a boosting number in 2017, with
171 varieties passed the national certification. In addition, 1,041 corn seed
breeds were approved for regional certification.
China’s import of seeds
In
order to save the food supply of its 1.4 billion population, China is not only
improving domestic seed research and development but also rely on foreign
knowledge and get access to the expertise by a new shopping spree of overseas
agricultural and chemicals companies. After all, Chinese firms have spent about
USD91 billion over the past decade purchasing nearly 300 foreign companies
involved in agriculture, chemicals and food. As Chinese living standards
improve and citizens demand more meat products, the country needs a growing
supply of animal feed.
In
addition to a low percentage of actual arable land in China, which is even
decreasing slightly over the years, the country's farms also suffer from
low yields due to outdated farming practices and an unproductive farm
structure. Chinese farms are mostly consisting of many small-sized areas with
traditional farmers working on them. It is quite the opposite of many
industrial countries, where a small percentage of farmers is working on
huge-size fields with new machinery and crop protection measurements.
The
latest seed purchases show China wants to lock down the scientific know-how
needed to improve its domestic crop yields. After all, all countries are going
to be increasingly concerned about how they can ensure they can continue to
access food supplies in the event of a major harvest shortfall.
About the article
China’s
seed and corn seed market is in a significant change currently, that any player
in this field should be aware of. Getting regular updates on the development
can be crucial to know where and when to invest.
The
information for this article comes from CCM, China’s leading market
intelligence provider for the fields of agriculture, chemicals, food and feed.
CCM enables insights in China’s hardly transparable market with contacts to
crucial domestic market players, governmental officials, and more than 17 years
of market research experience.
Have
a look and subscribe to CCM’s monthly China Seeds Newsletter to be ahead of the
competition and know all relevant information on market trends, company
dynamics, policy changes, import and export, as well as any newsworthy story.
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