A visitor holds a flyer from a U.S. soybean company at the Shanghai International Soybean Exhibition, April 12, 2018.
China is not only a chip crisis, Xinhua News Agency sponsored semi-monthly magazine “Half Moon Talk” published an article on April 8, suggesting that China is now “foreign seed dependence” Epidemic, once the so-called “agricultural chip-seed” is stuck in the neck, China hidden The risk of “broken seeds”. Taiwanese scholars analyze that if China’s soybeans and corn are controlled, the first to be affected is not people, but livestock and poultry.
According to the article “Where are the ‘stuck’ domestic seeds? According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and rural Affairs cited in the article, China has more than 95% of its own selected varieties of crops and is 100% self-sufficient in two major Food crops, rice and wheat.
The article mentions that there are many shortcomings and weaknesses in China’s seed industry. Keshan County in Heilongjiang Province is known as the “hometown of Chinese potato seed potatoes”, but Keshan 2020 potato planting area of 60,000 mu, about half of the Atlantic varieties.
And corn is also a relatively weak area in China. Pioneer, a member of the U.S. DuPont Group, selected hybrid corn seed “Centaur 335”, has been promoted for more than 10 years, is the main corn varieties planted in northeast and north China corn production areas.
The U.S. DuPont Group’s Pioneer selected hybrid corn seeds “Centaur 335”, promoted for more than 10 years, is the main corn varieties planted in the corn-producing areas of northeast and northern China. (Weibo photo)
In addition, China’s peppers, onions, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, etc., many rely on foreign seed breeding. Data from the China Seed Trade Association pointed out that China’s 2019 vegetable seed imports amounted to $224 million, accounting for more than half of seed imports.
Taiwan agricultural expert: China uses genetically modified seeds
Chen Shih-hsiung, an honorary professor at South China University in Taiwan, has promoted organic agriculture and organic campuses at Chung Hsing University in Taiwan for more than a decade. Chen Shih-hsiung told the station that although China claims to have a 100% self-sufficiency rate of “rice,” China uses genetically modified, hybridized seeds, so the yield is very high. But the rice is not sticky enough and does not taste good. The rice eaten in Taiwan is of Japanese origin, while the Chinese rice is of Indian origin. Taiwan’s ordinance then states that GM crops cannot be grown.
Chen Shixiong: “I was at the World Food Conference in Seoul one year, and the president of Beijing Agricultural University, Chen Zhangliang, said in his speech that we in China only have 8% of the world’s arable land, but we have to feed 21% of the world’s population, so we have to eat GM food. Many scientists are opposing the GM stuff, but it’s useless because they need to live.”
Chinese seeds ‘stuck’ in neck crisis, poultry, livestock first
The article in Half Moon News analyzed the seed “neck” crisis from five aspects, including the relative scarcity of original germplasm; weak capacity for accurate identification of resources; insufficient protection of existing germplasm resources; weak gene mining capacity, as well as the lack of effective collaboration between research institutions and enterprises, and the low level of breeding research and development of some varieties.
The article points out that the competition in the seed industry is related to the competitiveness of the country and the agricultural industry, and is a high-tech war without smoke and mirrors. If there is an extreme cut-off situation abroad, although not “a card to die”, but indeed will affect the speed, quality and efficiency of China’s agricultural development.
Last year, Chinese people were worried about the re-emergence of food rationing, pictured here are workers carrying rice in a wholesale market in Beijing.
Chen Shixiong bluntly pointed out that some people say that the chip is the protector of the country’s sacred mountain, in fact, agriculture is the protector of the country’s sacred mountain, some items once the source is cut off, some agriculture can not get up. “Every country should take agriculture as the patron saint, the chip may have some Time advantage is no longer, technology is learned away, but agriculture is always the patron saint, the seed is of course the lifeblood of the country.”
Chen Shixiong said that China was too dependent on Taiwan. Chen Shixiong also taught at Chung Hsing University when he was hired by the Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences as a special researcher. He said that early Taiwanese businessmen went to Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan Island to bring technology and varieties, and many professional cultivation techniques went from Taiwan. Almost 99% of the progress in Chinese agricultural science and technology is assisted by Taiwan across the sea, which means Taiwan provides funds, manpower, technology, varieties and technology patents. “Having raised them well, now the benefactors are coming to strike Taiwan’s farmers.”
The author of “Fruit Politics” and executive director of the strategy consultant Jiao Jun said in an interview with this station that there are many substitutable and non-essential fruits and vegetables, but the source of calories must be starch and carbohydrates, from the grains and cereals crops. If China can be self-sufficient in rice, but corn and soybeans seem to have the possibility of being controlled.
Jiao Jun: “The impact of corn and soybeans is on animal husbandry, that is, pigs and chickens do not have anything to eat, and there will be serious problems with animal protein sources.
Jiao Jun also analyzed the so-called agricultural “card” neck crisis, China will definitely be prepared, not foolish to let this happen. Such (seed) sanctions will not be made today and happen tomorrow.
According to a report published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2020, China will have a grain deficit of about 130 million tons of grain by 2025, and a deficit of 25 million tons of the three major staples.
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