Seed China Monthly Report

Market analysis: On 5 March, 2025, Hunan Province issued an action plan aiming to establish a national grain reserve base of 1.33 million hectares by 2030, accounting for more than one-third of the province's arable land, providing nearly two million tons of national grain reserves annually, and supplying high-quality grain to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta. On 18 March, 2025, China rolled out a package of agricultural subsidy programs to boost agricultural production and safeguard farmers' interests. The initiatives cover a wide range, including support for maintaining soil fertility, agricultural machinery purchases and application, wheat "one spray three prevention" operations, soybean-corn strip intercropping, corn and soybean production, paddy field management, crop rotation and fallow land practices, agricultural social services, and agricultural insurance premiums.

Company dynamics: On 18 March 2025, Longping High-Tech announced two strategic moves. First, its subsidiary partnered with Shenzhen Kaihong to form Longping Kaihong, targeting the development of an open-source HarmonyOS for agriculture. Second, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. invested in its Hebei Derui, acquiring 34% of shares, to boost vegetable seed technology integration and overseas market expansion. On 12 March, 2025, Fengle Seed released its financial report for the year 2024, with revenue decreased by 6.03% YoY, while its net profit increased by 73.67% YoY.

Trade analysis: In Jan. 2025, China's import volume of seeds of soybean, corn and vegetables decreased by 59.04% MoM to 48.143 tonnes, while the export volume droped by 92.88% MoM to 42.43 tonnes. In Feb. 2025, China's import volume of seeds of soybean, corn and vegetables increased by 293.33% MoM to 189.362 tonnes, while the export volume rose by 6.92% MoM to 45.366 tonnes. In Jan.–Feb. 2025, China imported approximately 16.85 million tonnes of grain, droping by 35.80% YoY. In Jan. 2025, China imported approximately 9.48 million tonnes of grain, droping by 34.35% YoY. In Feb. alone, 7.37 million tonnes of grain were imported, down 22.26% MoM.

Policy: On 3 March, 2025, the Hubei Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the "Key Points on Crop Seed Regulation in Hubei Province for 2025", aiming to comprehensively strengthen the regulation of crop seeds in 2025, ensure the safety of seeds used in agricultural production, and promote the effective implementation of the seed industry revitalization action. On 5 March, 2025, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Heilongjiang Province issued the "Management Standards for Crop Germplasm Resource Banks (Fields) (Trial)", clarifying the public welfare positioning of provincial-level resource banks (fields), classifying the management of germplasm banks, resource fields, and in vitro seedling banks, detailing the application conditions and operational requirements, establishing a dynamic supervision and five-year assessment mechanism, focusing on the protection of cold-region crops, and strengthening the collection, sharing, and safe preservation of resources.

Variety: On 6 March, 2025, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs approved 136 crop varieties in Gansu Province, broken down into 94 corn (69%), 28 wheat, 3 soybean, and 6 cotton varieties. On 7 March, 2025, Zhejiang's Crop Variety Approval Committee Office issued a notice on the preliminary review of 2024 main crop varieties. In 2024, 57 varieties passed the preliminary review, including 54 recommended and 3 expanded-season varieties, covering rice, corn, soybean, wheat, cotton, and silkworm.

The USD/RMB exchange rate in this Report is USD1.00=CNY7.1745 on 3 March, 2025, sourced from the People's Bank of China.