Longping High-Tech Announces It Will Stop Selling Disaster-Affected Rice Seeds

Following the large-scale yield reduction and total crop failure of “Liangyou 0293” in Anhui, the seed production company “Longping High-Tech” responded on the 12th, stating that it will voluntarily stop sales of “Liangyou 0293” for reasons unrelated to product quality, and plans to establish a post-disaster relief fund for the seed industry, setting aside a certain proportion of profits each year into the fund to provide relief to farmers hit by natural disasters.

⟦NL> Local Authorities Say Low Temperatures and Overcast Rain Caused the Blast Disease

It is reported that the hybrid rice variety “Liangyou 0293” was approved by the National Variety Approval Committee in 2006 (National Approved Rice No. 2006045). According to the approval opinion, this variety is suitable for planting as a single-season mid-season rice in some areas with light occurrence of rice blast, including Anhui. “Longping High-Tech” explained that the Bengbu area of Anhui belongs to a region with light occurrence of rice blast, and this variety had been continuously planted in the area for 6 years from 2008 to 2013 without any rice blast disasters occurring.

According to public data from the Anhui Provincial Meteorological Center, Anhui suffered rare low-temperature and rainy weather from July to August 2014, with an average temperature of 26.2 degrees Celsius over the two months, the lowest since 1994, and the temperature in Bengbu was the lowest for the same period in half a century. Due to the extreme climate effects of sustained low temperatures and continuous overcast rain, poor control results and other reasons, multiple rice blast-susceptible varieties in the above areas experienced yield reduction or total crop failure, including “Liangyou 0293.”

In September 2014, the local agriculture and seed authorities respectively organized two batches of experts to conduct two on-site field identifications of crop seeds. The identification conclusion was: the damage in the field was caused by typical panicle neck blast, mainly due to low temperatures and continuous overcast rain during the booting and heading stages, the variety itself being highly susceptible to rice blast, and inadequate timely preventive measures, which were the main causes of the outbreak.

Longping High-Tech Says It Will Develop New Varieties

It is understood that rice blast is one of the important diseases of rice, capable of causing large-scale yield reductions, and in severe cases reducing yields by 40%-50%, or even resulting in no harvest at all. It occurs in rice-growing regions worldwide and is known as the “cancer” of rice.

“Longping High-Tech” said that in recent years the company has made breeding rice varieties resistant to rice blast one of its research priorities, and currently some hybrid rice varieties, such as “Shenliangyou 5814,” have shown good resistance to rice blast. Some combinations currently under research by the company, such as the “Longliangyou” and “Jingliangyou” series, have also shown strong rice blast resistance in regional trials at various levels. In addition, the company is also breeding new widely adaptable hybrid rice combinations with good resistance, excellent grain quality and high yield according to market demand, and such varieties will be brought to market as soon as possible in the future.

Intends to Establish a Fund to Assist Disaster-Hit Farmers

“China is a country where natural disasters occur frequently. Farmers have limited ability and means to cope with natural disasters, and the existing insurance system can hardly fully protect agriculture and farmers from risks.”

Regarding the original intention of establishing a post-disaster relief fund for the seed industry, “Longping High-Tech” said that according to calculations based on data provided by the China Statistical Yearbook, the crop disaster losses requiring compensation nationwide from 2012 to 2014 were about 599.78 billion yuan, while compensation through agricultural insurance was 56.54 billion yuan, accounting for only 9.4%. In contrast, the U.S. agricultural insurance payout ratio was as high as over 90%. In 2011, crop insurance premium income reached 11.964 billion U.S. dollars, with payouts of 10.844 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 90.64% of premium income; the insured area was 266 million acres, about 65% of cultivated land area. By comparison, China's agricultural insurance clearly has insufficient coverage and a relatively low compensation rate, and farmers indeed cannot receive full compensation when hit by natural disasters.

“Longping High-Tech” said that the company is the first seed industry enterprise to propose establishing a natural disaster relief fund, hoping that by establishing a post-disaster relief fund, farmers, as a vulnerable group, will have one more channel to obtain assistance and reduce the impact of disasters.