85 enterprises have been licensed to operate genetically modified seeds to open the door to industrialization

On December 25, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued Announcement No. 739, in accordance with the "Seed Law of the People's Republic of China", "Regulations on the Safety Management of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms" and "Measures for the Administration of Crop Seed Production and Operation Licenses" and other relevant regulations, approved the issuance of crop seed production and operation licenses for 85 enterprises including Beijing Lianchuang Seed Industry Co., Ltd. Among them, 26 enterprises have been approved for the production and operation of genetically modified corn and soybean seeds, involving a number of listed companies.

According to relevant analysis, this is a very crucial step in the industrialization of genetically modified seeds and the development of biological breeding technology in the mainland. "Following the approval of the first batch of genetically modified corn and soybean varieties, this time is the last pass for genetically modified corn and soybean varieties to enter the market, which is equivalent to opening the door to the industrialization of genetically modified seeds. Song Weibin, a professor at the National Key Laboratory of Corn Biological Breeding of China Agricultural University, told a reporter from Beijing Business Daily.

The first year of industrialization began

According to Announcement No. 739 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, 26 of the 85 enterprises approved for the production and operation of crop seeds are involved in genetically modified corn and soybean seeds.

It is worth noting that among the above 26 companies, there are many listed companies such as Dabeinong, Denghai Seeds, Longping Hi-Tech, and Fengle Seeds. As of the close of trading on December 27, Dabeinong quoted 5.91 yuan/share, up 3.14%, Denghai Seed was quoted at 12.99 yuan/share, up 0.54%, and Fengle Seed was quoted at 7.63 yuan/share, up 1.19%.

According to the Regulations on the Safety Management of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms, after obtaining the biosafety certificate, genetically modified varieties need to obtain a seed production and business license through variety approval before they can enter commercial production and application. Previously, on December 7, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued Announcement No. 732 showed that 37 genetically modified corn varieties such as Yufeng 303D and 14 genetically modified soybean varieties such as Maiyu 526 had been approved by the fourth meeting of the Fifth National Crop Variety Examination and Approval Committee.

Song Weibin told a reporter from Beijing Business Daily that in fact, as early as October 17 this year, the genetically modified corn and soybean varieties and their applicants and breeders that were approved by the fourth variety examination and approval meeting of the Fifth National Crop Variety Examination and Approval Committee were announced. It is observed that the enterprises that have been approved for the production and operation of genetically modified corn and soybean seeds are basically included.

"It can be said that this year is the first year of the industrialization of genetically modified seeds. Song Weibin said that after the first batch of genetically modified corn and soybean varieties passed the variety approval, this time is the last pass for genetically modified corn and soybean varieties to enter the market, which is equivalent to opening the door to the industrialization of genetically modified seeds.

"Three-step" strategy

It is reported that the mainland has formulated a "three-step" strategy for the industrialization of genetically modified technology, that is, from "non-edible" (such as genetically modified insect-resistant cotton) to "indirect consumption" (such as genetically modified corn and soybeans), and then to "direct consumption" (such as genetically modified rice and wheat) The development goal of gradual industrialization. Previously, only genetically modified cotton in China has achieved large-scale promotion and planting, and now the market share of domestic insect-resistant cotton has reached 99%.

As for why corn and soybean varieties are at the forefront of genetically modified seeds, Song Weibin pointed out that corn and soybean are one of the most important crops in the world, and they occupy an important position in the human food supply chain. These two crops are not only used directly in human food production, but are also widely used in the manufacture of animal feed and industrial products such as biofuels. Due to their great economic value and wide range of applications, there is a strong demand to improve the yield and quality of these two crops.

According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the total grain output in the country in 2023 will be 1,390.82 billion catties, of which 1,282.86 billion catties will be produced by cereals, 47.68 billion catties by beans, and 60.28 billion catties by potatoes. Specifically, in the output of cereals, corn production is the largest, reaching 577.68 billion catties, higher than that of rice and wheat, and soybean alone accounts for 41.68 billion catties of bean output.

According to other statistics, it has become the norm for the mainland to import more than 150 million tons of grain from the international market every year. According to customs statistics, the grain import volume in 2022 will be 146.87 million tons, equivalent to 21.4% of the total domestic grain output, of which 91.08 million tons of soybeans, 20.62 million tons of corn, 10.14 million tons of sorghum, and 9.96 million tons of wheat will be imported.

"In addition, the hybrids used in corn production cannot be kept by growers, which determines the high level of commercialization, and the companies engaged in corn seed production can extract more profits from the market. Therefore, it is not by chance that corn and soybean are at the forefront of GM seed research, but because of their important position in global agriculture and their biological characteristics. Song Weibin said.

Industrial technology is driven by both directions

According to the analysis of industry insiders, seed enterprises can produce and sell normally after obtaining the production and operation license, but they still produce and sell in the designated area. Starting next year, we will use provinces and autonomous regions to demonstrate industrial application, and then talk about the gradual liberalization. Relevant people from Dabeinong, Denghai Seed Industry and Longping Hi-Tech Company also said in interviews that after obtaining the production and operation license, they will still demonstrate and sell in a specific area.

In August this year, the person in charge of the Science and Technology Development Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center introduced that in 2023, the pilot scope of corn and soybean biological breeding industrialization will be extended to 20 counties in 5 provinces and regions of Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Sichuan and Yunnan, and seed production will be arranged in Gansu. This year, the central "No. 1 document" also proposed to fully implement major biological breeding projects, accelerate the pace of industrialization of corn and soybean biological breeding, orderly expand the scope of pilots, and standardize planting management.

For example, according to the Zheshang Securities Research Report, Yufeng 303 and Zhongke Yu 505, which are subordinate to Longping Hi-Tech, are advantageous varieties with a promotion area of more than 10 million mu, and the market share is expected to exceed 25% in the early stage of transgenic commercialization, assuming that the penetration rate of transgenic seeds is 15%, the company can harvest about 1.5 billion yuan in revenue.

In addition, after the commercialization of genetically modified seeds, trait enterprises can collect patent royalties by licensing seed production enterprises. It is reported that the roles played by trait companies and seed companies in the field of plant science are different, the former is mainly engaged in the research and improvement of plant traits, and the latter is mainly engaged in seed production and sales. According to the research report of Zheshang Securities, if you refer to international practice, calculated at 8-10 yuan/mu, the market size of trait authorization can reach 800 million to 1 billion yuan in 2025, and when the penetration rate reaches 90%, the market size of traits can reach nearly 6 billion yuan.

Song Weibin believes that the importance of the industrialization of genetically modified seeds lies mainly in four aspects. The first is to improve agricultural production efficiency, that is, through transgenic technology, crops can be strengthened to resist pests and diseases, increase crop yields, thereby improving agricultural production efficiency; secondly, crop quality can be improved, such as enhancing nutritional value and improving their environmental adaptability, such as drought tolerance, salinity tolerance, etc. Most importantly, as the global population grows, food security is on the rise, and GM technology has the potential to help solve this problem by increasing crop yields and improving crop quality. At the same time, as a part of agricultural science and technology, the development of transgenic technology will also promote scientific and technological progress in related fields and realize the two-way drive of industrialization and technological development.

Beijing Business Daily reporter Jin Chaoli Cheng Liang