New strains of Chinese protein-rich corn!
Beijing, Mar 13 (EFE).-
Chinese scientists are developing new strains of protein-rich corn that could replace soybeans in animal feed in an effort to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign grains, particularly from the US.
At China’s recent annual legislative session earlier this week, delegate Yan Jianbing, president of Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) in Wuhan, told local media that the country is researching promising varieties to replace soybeans.
Professor Yan said an improvement of just one percentage point in the protein content of corn could reduce China’s demand for foreign soybeans by as much as 8 million tons due to the country’s huge corn production, which will reach 290 million tons in 2024.
Increasing the protein content of corn by one percentage point could add 2.9 million tons of protein per year, said the academic, whose team has developed several corn varieties with an average protein content of 10 percent, two percentage points higher than conventional corn.
More than 667,000 hectares of this new corn have already been planted, according to the expert, for whom the main solution to the food problem “is technology.”
In recent years, China has been forced to import large quantities of soybeans to feed its growing livestock industry as consumers have adopted diets increasingly rich in meat and dairy products.
In a context marked by recent trade tensions and tariffs with the US, the European Union, and Canada, Chinese authorities are seeking to make the agricultural sector more resilient to potential fluctuations in international trade and avoid dependence on foreign imports.
Chinese soybean imports account for about 60 percent of the total volume of global soybean trade, and the US is one of the country’s largest suppliers, along with Brazil.
Dependence on US soybeans has been a double-edged sword for Beijing, which earlier this month imposed tariffs on American agricultural products, including soybeans, in response to Washington’s increased tariffs on Chinese products.
China’s imports of soybeans reached 105 million tons last year, most of which was used as protein feed for livestock and poultry, according to the country’s customs data cited by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post newspaper.
In recent years, the Asian country has prioritized maintaining self-sufficiency in staple grains such as rice and wheat, where it has world-leading production technology, but the unit yield of its corn and soybeans is only 60 percent of that of the US, according to figures cited by Chinese officials.
In his recent government work report, Premier Li Qiang set a target for China to produce 700 million tons of grain this year – the country produced 706.5 million tons in 2024 – and continue to focus on improving yield and quality.
In late February, the government released an annual rural policy plan aimed at ensuring food security and addressing economic and climatic challenges, including subsidies for major grain-producing regions and a push to industrialize biotech crops, promoting the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) under strict supervision.
The plan also envisages improving production efficiency with advanced technologies and optimizing the use of agricultural machinery, promoting the renewal of equipment, and the development of smart agriculture with artificial intelligence, big data, and autonomous systems. EFE
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