China's important corn
producing Gansu Province has revealed the new list of creditworthy corn seeds
companies. As more companies are rated as financially stable, the top corn
varieties are losing share in the total planting area.
China
is the country with the highest agricultural production, resulting of the need
to feed 1.4 billion people. Joining this market is a goldmine if market
players know where and how to invest. CCM gives an overview of the most
creditworthy corn seed companies and outlines the preferred corn seed
varieties.
The
Agricultural Bureau of Zhangye City and Zhangye Seed Association in Gansu
Province announced the new credit list of Chinese corn seed enterprises in
2017. According to the announcement, 17 corn seed companies have been chosen as
AAA + level-rated companies, 23 as AAA level, 7 as AA level and 2 as A level.
Enterprises, which are doing business in China’s corn seed or general
agricultural market are well suggested to learn about the credibility of their
Chinese possible business partners.
China’s
corn seeds enterprises have been showing an increasing credibility since 2015.
In fact, the number of AAA+ level corn seed enterprises has been increasing in
the last years. In the year 2016, a total number of 54 companies have graded A
level or beyond and 10 of them were authorised to be of an AAA+ level.
According
to CCM’s research, there are six local corn seed producers that have maintained
AAA+ level during the past three years, including Gansu Hongtai, Gansu Jinyuan,
Gansu Xingda, Gaotai Seed, Zhangye Sanbei and China Seed International.
Reportedly,
the People's Government of Zhangye City issued the Interim Measures for
National Hybrid Corn Seed Production Base Administration in Zhangye City in
February 2017 to build up a credit system. Every authorised corn seed producer
should submit an application for production scales annually and seed
administration departments of all levels ought to evaluate the credit of
companies based on their financial strength and integrity. Enterprises of AAA+
level enjoy no limitation for the production area. For those who do not rank in
the required credit levels, their planting area should be less than 200 ha. All
seed enterprises should obey the production area restriction. Seed companies
are encouraged to build up seed production bases through land transfer, but
unauthorised enterprises are forbidden to produce corn seed in Zhangye City.
China’s top planted
corn seeds in 2016
According
to CCM’s research, China's top 10 most widely planted corn seed varieties in
2016 include Zhengdan 958, Xianyu 335, Jingke 968, Denghai 605,
and Jundan 20. The combined planting area of the top 10 seeds almost
reached 10 million ha in that year, accounting for 31% of the national total. Hence,
the corn seed planting area is very concentrated in the country and the top
seeds are highly preferred by the farmers. However, official data also reveals,
that the domestic corn planting area had kept falling from 2014 ongoing.
Out
of the almost 100 corn varieties that were grown in China in 2016, the top 10
count as the core varieties. While the planting area of the top 10 already
covers nearly a third of the total, the next preferred corn varieties are
showing a much more diversified share. After all, the combined planting areas
of China's top 20, top 50 and top 100 hit 38%, 48% and 58% of the total share
respectively. As a result, the about 900 lesser used corn varieties are still
accounting for 42% of the total share.
CCM
also tracked the changes of planting areas of the top 10 corn varieties in
China throughout 2014–2016. As a result of the research, the growing area of
Zhengdan 958, Xianyu 335, Jundan 20, Demeiya 1 and Weike 702 showed a
downward trend from 2014 to 2016, while that of Longping 206, Zhongdan 909 and
Liyu 16 fluctuated and only that of Jingke 968 and Denghai 605 kept increasing.
About the article
The
information for this article comes from CCM, China’s leading market
intelligence provider for the fields of agriculture, chemicals, food and feed.
For
more regular and exclusive insights into China’s seeds market, have a look at
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