b'Chinas seed quality is going to take sizeable investmentWhile foreign investment and acquisitions might help in research on its own soil. increase research and development capabilities, China ChemChina recently announced it is seeking $10 bil- needs seed catered to its unique environment. That lion from a Shanghai IPO for Syngenta Group. Syngentameans its almost like starting from scratch when it comes Group is comprised of Syngenta Crop Protection,to research and development because the countrys pest Syngenta Seeds, ADAMA and Syngenta Group China. Itpressure, weather and consumer acceptance of certain represents one of the largest global companies in sales oftechnologies is all unique.seed and crop protection products However, the Chinese government is making techno-Maybe their investment in technology and innova- logical breakthroughs more attainable. Relatively recent tion will come from government funding and from moneychanges to policies and regulations have helped reform from the IPO, Durkin said. This is an example of thethe Chinese seed industry to enable more innovation in consolidation [we expect to see]. The government isthe private sector.trying to invest in picking winners they can invest in. The Supreme Peoples Court issued a new judicial interpretation on the right to Plant Variety Protection Government Dedicated to Innovation (PVP) and the Seed Law is also being revised. Specifically, The Chinese government is investing in more than justthe Seed Law is focused on establishing an essentially seed companies, however. derived variety (EDV) system and expanding the scope of We have a new crop gene bank with the storagePVP rights.capacity of 1.5 million accessionsthats nearly fourIt means significant improvement in the innovation times as big as the current one under construction, saidand developmental environment of the seed industry, Alison Tian, secretary general of China National SeedTian said. And in 2016 a new seed law came into force to Trade Association. Its government-encouraged becausesimplify the procedures to obtain business licenses.the protection and utilization of germplasm resourcesInstead of requiring two licenses for seed companies are the material basis for having breakthroughs in origi- to operateone for seed production and one for busi-nal technologies and self-reliant innovation in the seedness operationtheyve been combined.industry.AWB-Germination-Nov2021-outline.pdf 1 2021-10-07 2:53:20 PMThrottle Down to Increase R&DWhether through mergers and acquisitions or increased investment in companies already formed, it appears China is scaling up efforts in seed research.This is a good thing, Glauber said. While there has been a decline [in research spending] over the past 15 years [in certain countries], we have seen the growth is emerging economies like Brazil and China. Thankfully, were seeing real investment in agriculture.The number of seed companies in China is growing to meet the needs for not only large-scale row crops but C vegetable seeds as well. According to recent reports, veg-M etable seeds are the No. 1 seed import in the country.Y We saw the number of seed companies increase from around 4,300 in 2016 to more than 5,800 in 2018, Tian CM said. Its more than 6,000 now and rising. As the compet-MY itiveness of the private companies increases, they make CY more investment in seed research.CMY Its important to note that Chinas seed industry is frag-mented. The biggest company in terms of market share K is Longping High-Tech, which controls just 4% of the market. Syngenta Group comes in at second place, hold-ing over 3% of the market.To further accentuate the countrys dedication to new technologies and innovation in the ag sector, the govern-ment is encouraging university researchers, graduating students and anyone qualified to join the private sector to pursue agricultural research and create new products.Theyre incentivizing achievement, Tian added. 12GERMINATION.CAJANUARY 2022'