Corn planting area may hit a new record high, seed industry enters a new round of prosperity

Recently, the industry publication Oil World in Hamburg, Germany, stated that because farmers switched to planting corn, China's soybean planting area will decrease by 7% this year, dropping to the lowest level in 22 years, while the corn planting area may increase to a record level.

This year, both corn output and imports will decline. From July to August this year, Liaoning, Jilin, Henan and other regions in China suffered severe drought. According to a report from the China National Grain and Oils Information Center, China's corn output in 2014 may decrease by 2.2% compared with the previous year, which would be the first decline since 2010. From January to July this year, China's corn imports were 1.465 million tons, only 45% of the import volume in 2013. The main reason for the decrease was that within less than a year, 1.25 million tons of MIR162 genetically modified corn from the United States were returned.

The national hybrid corn seed production volume dropped sharply, causing inventory to fall back from a high level, and seed prices are expected to enter a new round of upward movement. Data shows that this year the national hybrid corn seed production area was 2.95 million mu, a decrease of 23%. Except for a few due to specialty varieties, the seed production areas of hybrid corn seed enterprises nationwide were all reduced by a relatively large margin.

At the summit forum of the 12th National Seed Information Exchange and Product Trade Fair on September 15, Zhang Fugui, deputy director of the Legislative Affairs Office of the National People's Congress, said, “The draft amendment to the Seed Law has completed the public consultation process ahead of schedule and will be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation as early as April next year.” The four-year law revision process is entering its final stage, and the new Seed Law is expected to be introduced. It is reported that this draft amendment to the Seed Law will add two chapters on new variety protection and support measures for the development of seed enterprises.

With the decline in seed production leading to a drop from high inventory levels, and driven by policies such as the new Seed Law and the green channel for variety approval, the seed industry is expected to enter a new round of prosperity, bringing leading enterprises such as Denghai Seed Industry, Wanxiang Denong, and Longping High-Tech simultaneous increases in volume and price for superior varieties.