Seeds of hope may be gone with the wind Farmers examine corn seeds at "Seed Street" in Yushu city, Jilin province, where about 2...

Seeds of hope may be gone with the wind

Farmers examine corn seeds at "Seed Street" in Yushu city, Jilin province, where about 200 seed companies have their businesses. He Na / China Daily

Han Zongqing, a farmer from Dongling village in Fate town, Shulan city, displays corn seeds he bought this year. Han is one of many farmers in Northeast China's Jilin province who have been thrown into a panic by the massive variety of corn seeds available on the market. Ding Luyang / China Daily

Seeds are high on the agenda for farmers this year. In July, unusually strong winds left a trail of destruction in fields across Northeast China's Jilin province, one of the country's major corn-producing bases, flattening a large area of cornstalks.

July and August are the important growing periods for corn. However, affected by the winds, the harvest in some regions declined markedly last year, resulting in heavy losses for many farmers. Han Zong-qing, 65, who lives in Dongling village, Fate town, Shulan city, is one of them.

"I haven't seen a wind like that before. It was like a scene when the monsters come in a TV adaptation of Journey to the West (a classic Chinese legend where the arrival of monsters is always presaged by high winds). One-third of the corn I grew was beaten down. I only harvested 14,500 kilograms last year, which was 4,000 kg less than in 2010," he complained.

"This year's corn price is much higher than before and recently jumped to 2.1 yuan ($0.33) per kg from 1.6 yuan last year. The wind blew more than 4,000 yuan from my pocket. I could have bought plenty of things with that money," said Han.

Many of his fellow villagers also witnessed a decline in crop yields. When they inspected the fields, they discovered that most of the damaged corn belonged to one specific variety, Pioneer 335, a hybrid produced by the world's largest corn seed company, Pioneer Hi-Bred.

"I've planted it for five years, but I didn't know it was so vulnerable to wind. What seeds should I choose this year? We've been thinking about that question since autumn, but still haven't made a decision," said Han, sitting on his traditional brick-heated bed.

"The seeds are our lives. If we buy fake or inferior ones, our whole year's work will be in vain," said Cui Shulan, 65, Han's wife.

"The Pioneer case greatly affected farmers' confidence in the seeds, and they are more cautious in their choices this year," said Zhang Qingshan, vice-president of Yushu Fengze Seed Group, a local producer.

According to Ding Wanzhi, director of the Jilin Provincial Seed Management Center, the demand for corn was slack in 2008, but Pioneer 335 performed well. In 2009, Jilin suffered a severe drought and Pioneer 335's ability to survive the conditions saw its yields remain much the same as before.

The farmers' confidence in the seed increased greatly after that. Meanwhile, the price of Pioneer 335 rose in tandem with sales, generally costing 10 yuan a bag (about 6,000 corn seeds) more than domestically produced seeds. Even though the variety costs more, farmers often still prefer it.

Embarrassment of riches?

Every year, November to April is the peak period for seed sales. "Every shop is full of customers, and business is booming. Recently, our center has seen an average daily sales volume of 10,000 bags of corn seeds," said Wang Haitao, manager of a seed trade center affiliated with Changchun Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the largest corn seed market in Changchun, Jilin's provincial capital.

"I haven't found a chance to sit down and drink any water at all this morning. The farmers were asking lots of questions about seeds and kept me talking all the time," said Han Liang, who has owned his shop in the center for more than a decade.

In Han's village, local seed sellers have visited his house almost daily to show him new varieties, and the local TV channels are also filled with ads for seeds. Even a small town such as Fate has eight seed shops, each selling at least 20 different corn seed varieties.

"Seed Street"

The Han's lost heart when faced with the huge choice. The fear of buying counterfeit seeds locally led them to travel by long-distance bus to Yushu city, the largest grain production base in the province, clutching a list of preferred seeds, garnered after long consultations with their family and neighbors.

Yushu has more than 320 different seed companies and about 200 of them are on Gongnong Street, known locally simply as "Seed Street". A board hanging in the corridor of the Yushu Agricultural Supervision Team indicates the 471 varieties of corn seeds approved by the Ministry of Agriculture.

"In addition, there are more than 700 varieties of seed named after the local companies that produced them, meaning that at present more than 1,300 different kinds are on sale," said Sun Chengju, the team leader.

Of the 200 seed companies in Yushu's Seed Street, only a few have the ability to conduct research and development. Zhang Xue, director of the Yushu Agriculture Bureau, admitted that the differences in management styles and product quality in these enterprises results in market chaos and distorts competition.

However, this phenomenon is not unique to Yushu, it's widespread in China's Northeast and other provinces and regions. Yushu is just a microcosm of China's seed industry. "Some seed companies mislead customers by misusing trademarks, exaggerating and misrepresentation in their advertisements.

"Using inferior seeds in place of high-quality ones is a common trick practiced by a number of the companies. It can be done easily, just by putting inferior seeds in packages designed for high-end brands," said Xu Lei, chairman of Northern Agriculture Technology Co.

"In 2010, we undertook a special investigation into farming materials and discovered more than 450,000 kg of fake corn seeds. We took emergency measures that directly avoided losses of more than 200 million yuan. It's the largest case of counterfeit seeds in our city so far," said Sun.

"In a bid to guarantee the quality of the seeds, we worked out a number of measures, such as introducing a seed security fund to compensate farmers for losses and a five-shop joint-guarantee system under which if any shop in the group sells fake seeds, the other four receive the same punishment. All the measures were effective, and so far we haven't received a single complaint about fake seeds," he said.

Hoping to attract more customers, some shops are offering free oil, rice and transportation to people buying seeds. Han and his wife trudge between the shops, clutching an ever-increasing number of colorful pamphlets, but after three hours their 2,000 yuan in cash remains firmly in their hands.

"To tell the truth, my eyes are already aching after seeing so many items. No matter which I picked up, the salesmen all said almost the same thing, talking about high yields and a strong tolerance to high winds, drought and insects," Cui said. "Why can't we have more big brands like Pioneer 335? We wouldn't need to make such a hard decision then," she complained.

Spreading the risk

Not only the elderly are baffled by the proliferation of seed varieties. Younger growers, who can boast an education and plenty of experience of working in the fields, have been left scratching their heads too. Han Chang'an, 50, the couple's nephew, grows corn on his 4 hectares of land. He's respected in the village and people always consult him when they have problems in their fields. "It's really hard to choose from so many varieties. So each year I usually buy seven or eight different varieties to spread the risk. I dare not put all my eggs in one basket. If I was unlucky and bought some counterfeit seeds, at least I could still harvest produce from fields where I'd sown other varieties," he said.

Most of the farmers do the same and there are usually at least 30 different strains of corn growing in the village. "Farmers have an obvious blindness when choosing corn seeds. It's usual for one family to grow four or five different strains. They think it's a good way of avoiding risks, but many of these varieties are hard to manage and require different growing regimes, sometimes more water or fertilizer, and that can lead to a decrease in yields," said Sun.

Eventually, after several hours of shopping, Han and his wife bought three different strains of corn to plant on their 1.3 hectares. "The strong winds may not hit us again, so we still bought some Pioneer 335. We also bought a variety called Yufa 188, which was recommended by a neighbor, and some Nongda 2188, suggested by relatives. I've kept all the receipts in case we need to claim compensation," said Cui.

"For farmers like us, growing grain is a gamble. It's only when we've sown the seeds, seen the seedlings and then the big yellow corn, that we can breathe a sigh of relief," she admitted.