When will soybeans once again cover the rural landscape?
Today let's talk about the issue of domestically grown soybeans.
In recent days, "Xiangtu" has noticed that in recent years, the planting area and output of domestic sorghum and soybeans have continuously declined. Yet against the trend of increasingly rising dependence on foreign exports in the soybean market, domestic soybean protein processing enterprises, after decades of effort, have finally established their own place in the international soybean market, not only achieving self-sufficiency in domestic soybean protein but also currently holding more than 50 percent of the global market share, establishing a good brand image for Chinese soybeans internationally and opening a new path for the revitalization of China's soybean industry.
Soybean protein is a high-quality plant protein resource. Every 100 grams of soybeans contains about 40 grams of protein, which is 4.2 times that of corn, 3.6 times that of wheat, 5 times that of rice, 3 times that of pork, and 2 times that of beef. With the current rising domestic living standards and the shift in people's views on quality of life and nutritional value, supplementing protein through soybean protein products has gradually been accepted by the people. Among the world's five major soybean product producing regions - the United States, Argentina, Brazil, China and India - soybeans produced in China, with their advantages of being non-GMO, high in protein and highly usable, sell well in markets around the world including the EU, the United States, Japan and South Korea, and their output and consumption also hold an absolute advantage in the current world soybean market.
Soybeans, because of their high nutritional value, are also a highly internationalized agricultural product internationally. In the current domestic market, only by recognizing the advantages of domestically grown soybeans can we participate in competition in the international market. According to "Xiangtu", Mr. Deng Gao, vice president of the China Soybean Industry Association, said in an interview with a newspaper reporter that this year is the fifteenth year since China joined the WTO. With a fully open market, domestically grown soybeans have actively integrated into the international market, fully leveraging domestic variety, food culture and resource advantages, and blazed a unique food processing path suited to China's agricultural product exports.
Currently in the international soybean market, soybeans have already formed a bean market and pricing dominated by two types: food beans and feed beans. Foreign soybeans mainly meet the need for feed beans, while domestically grown soybeans remain the mainstay of food beans. The price of domestically grown soybeans has gradually shaken off the influence of the soybean price on the national exchange, with the price of domestic beans 800 yuan to 1000 yuan per ton higher than that of imported beans, and soybean oil 1500 yuan to 2000 yuan per ton higher. From this we can see that the advantages of currently domestically grown non-GMO soybeans are already reflected in their price.
Yet although domestically grown soybean protein enjoys such a high competitive advantage in the international market, it still cannot conceal the generally sluggish state of the domestic soybean product sector, with the number of bankrupt soybean processing plants still increasing year by year or halting production. The operating rate is still less than 20% to 30%, and the industry remains in a state of severe loss. And this is also the original reason why "Xiangtu" published this article today. Despite such good prospects in the international market, domestically there are still farmers and growers constantly reporting declining yields and incomes year after year, while domestic enterprises remain unable to make ends meet. It is truly heartbreaking!
And under such circumstances, how can the current situation be reversed?
"Xiangtu" believes that enterprises engaged in deep processing of soybeans are currently the main source of demand for domestically grown soybeans. Only when domestic enterprises can achieve genuine substantial development can the supply and demand of the soybean product chain be balanced and the soybean industry achieve recovery-driven development. At present, the four major grain traders have mature industrial systems providing industrial support for imported GMO soybeans, and China should also develop a non-GMO soybean deep processing industrial system to provide industrial support for domestically grown soybeans.
The state should also support enterprises that process non-GMO soybeans, regulate market competition, and purify and optimize production capacity, guiding the soybean industry onto a healthy, sound and sustainable development path. (Feels so official.) And as "Xiangtu" said at the beginning of this article, the current continuous yearly decline in soybean planting area directly leads to a multiplied drop in average annual output, and is an extremely important factor affecting the development of domestically grown soybeans.
Soybeans and corn are two crops with a very high degree of correlation, and the continuous seven-year decline in domestic soybean output and the continuous ten-year normalcy of corn output are both extraordinary developments. This year the state introduced agricultural supply-side reform, intended to adjust the agricultural planting structure and restore and promote the crop rotation system of corn and soybeans. This is fundamentally and practically addressing the soybean problem. Two indispensable foods, which are also the main raw materials for feed supply, and the excellent system of crop rotation must focus on long-term development, not only adjusting existing industrial policies but also, from an overall perspective, recognizing that domestically grown soybeans are a necessity for meeting the nutritional and health needs of a moderately prosperous life in China. Therefore, domestically grown soybeans must be regarded as high-quality grain or food, and cannot be excluded from grain crops.