Be Careful When Buying Corn Seed Across Regions

Nowadays, spring plowing preparations are in full swing in the cold high-altitude regions of northern China. All cooperatives and large grain-growing households are rushing about to buy high-quality, high-yield corn seed, staking the golden autumn “bet” on those seeds. In this prime season for buying corn seed, the corn seed dealers in Yi'an County, Heilongjiang Province, feel quite perplexed: compared with previous years, the scene of heavy traffic in front of their shops is gone, and very few farmers are buying corn seed. So where have all the farmers buying corn seed gone?

It is understood that in Yi'an County, a major corn-producing area, hundreds of corn seed dealers have every year stocked up in advance on corn seed suitable for local planting for farmers to choose from, and this year was no exception. Since local corn seed supplies are plentiful, why the “sluggish sales”? After in-depth interviews, we found that for some time most farmers buying corn seed have been traveling to a certain place in Jilin Province to haul back or mail-order corn seed. Farmers “seeking the far while neglecting the near” and buying corn seed from other places are not only found in Yi'an County; the phenomenon also exists elsewhere. The reason is simple: Mr. Jiang, a large grain grower in Yilong Town, said frankly that the corn seed there is “cheap,” less than half the local price, so farmers swarm to Jilin Province to snap up corn seed.

Experts point out that when buying corn seed, you cannot look only at the price and go for cheap. You must make sure the corn seed you choose complies with the relevant provisions of the Seed Law; corn varieties planted in the Heilongjiang region must carry the black-approval mark, and must be varieties that have undergone 3 years of trial and demonstration locally and can stand up to scrutiny. You also need to look at the suitable effective accumulated temperature, maturity period, germination rate, purity, stress resistance, per-mu yield and a whole series of items that need comparison. If you look only at a cheap price, you may well end up suffering a big loss.

As the saying goes: A person may fool the land for a time, but the land will fool the person for a year. For farmers in Heilongjiang Province, who plant one crop a year, all hope to increase yields by planting fine corn varieties and thereby raise their income, so they treat buying corn seed as the top priority of the entire planting operation. At present, corn varieties on the market are dazzling and prices vary. Farmers are advised to keep a sharp eye when buying corn seed, and absolutely not let price blind them, losing the greater for the lesser and ruining the year's harvest.