Chapter 133: The Pioneer Group, dormant for 18 years (Subscribe!) Corn seeds have created a number of world-famous this field, the first group is composed of American Pioneer, Swiss Novartis, French Limagrain, Monsanto, German KWS Group, etc. The second group was bred by Australia Pacific Seeds, ICI Seeds, Decathlon Genetics and others. The Pioneer Group ranks first in the world in the corn seed industry, with annual sales exceeding US$20 billion and profits of nearly US$3 million. Its hybrid corn planting area accounts for 22% of the world's total. In comparison, the largest corn seed company in China is Denghai Seeds. It started with a capital of 2 yuan and successively merged 31 seed production and management units. In 2002, its business fell into decline, with assets of only million yuan and annual profits of 6000 million yuan. In December of the same year, Denghai Seeds and Pioneer Company jointly established Denghai-Pioneer Seeds, and China's largest corn seed company was born. This year, Pioneer and Shazhou Seeds jointly established Shazhou-Pioneer Seeds, which is responsible for seed sales in the Huanghuaihai summer corn area. Denghai-Pioneer will be responsible for seed sales in the Northeast and other spring corn areas.
With the financial and technical support of Pioneer Company, Denghai Pioneer and Shazhou Pioneer were successively listed in the domestic market and achieved a significant increase in performance. But in fact, Pioneer Company has quietly started corn breeding experiments in China since 1985. At that time, we rented an office at Hua Xia Agricultural University, but Pioneer moved out in less than two years. Because the seed industry is a field that encourages foreign investment, but this "encouragement" is only in the introduction, development, production and breeding of seeds, and foreign investors cannot set up sales companies. Neither wholesale nor retail is allowed. It can only be sold by seed trading companies such as Ronghua, but European and American seed companies are still dormant in the Chinese market. Pioneer Company has never stopped researching corn seeds and has conducted continuous experiments on the Northeast corn seed market for many years, with an average of more than 8000 test sites each year. However, the hybrid corn seeds that have been cultivated cannot yet be sold on the market. With the relaxation of seed industry policies, European and American seed companies have become active one after another. At this time, Pioneer Company suddenly came up with dozens of corn varieties that could adapt to the Chinese market. Xianyu 2004, which passed the review in 335, is its representative work and has expanded rapidly in the country as a dark horse. At its peak, the cultivated area exceeded 4000 million mu. At the same time, this was also the single variety with the highest profit at that time. During the same period, Zhengdan 958 continued its glory for another two or three years, but after Xianyu 335 won the trust of the majority of farmers, it began to decline. In Guo Yang's previous life, Xianyu 335 had been a best-seller in China for more than ten years. It also caused a series of voices in the seed world: "Foreign capital invasion may lead to a quick counterattack", "The market has fallen or recovered lost ground", "Multinational corporations conquer cities and territories", Even among the Chinese surnames, foreign surnames are still the most common. But in addition to stirring up a series of passionate and turbulent public opinion ripples, Pioneer also taught domestic breeding experts a profound lesson. Let’s put aside our national boundaries for a moment. Pioneer entered China by setting up offices, establishing companies, conducting in-depth surveys, conducting research, and cultivating varieties. More than ten years passed in a flash. After persistence and hard work, the Xianyu 335 series of corn hybrids were finally bred.
Poor farmers are eager to increase production and income, the far-sighted government is worried about "food security", and seed industry bosses are looking forward to making huge profits. Pioneer 335 is a variety cultivated by Pioneer Company on Chinese soil and suitable for Chinese farmers. For farmers, it is like pie in the sky as it can increase production and income. In comparison, the breeding atmosphere in China is much more impetuous. The breeding research cycle is five years, and it is necessary to apply for research projects, obtain funding, deal with inspections, and conduct evaluation and acceptance; They have to bear the pressure of making a report every year, making a summary every three years, and producing results every five years; We also need to pursue the goals of advancement, promotion, and salary increase. Therefore, when starting a breeding project, they are more willing to undertake the topic of 'three years for peaches, four years for apricots, five years for pears, and one year for jujubes'. There are even quicker ones who compare and draw a gourd, directly quote materials, and apply breeding methods. Within a year or two, products similar to Zhengdan 958 and Xianyu 335 were launched on the market. The breeding of Xianyu 335 is another scenario, a standardized, procedural and data-based commercial breeding platform. Foresighted breeding, resource sharing, breeding goals closely aligned with the market, sufficient funding and clear direction. Each hybrid must undergo at least 100 pilot projects and more than 200 farmer-plot planting trials before it can be commercialized. Breeders do not have to worry about competing for funding, evaluating professional titles, or reporting results. Work diligently, focus on research, endure loneliness, and withstand failure. It takes ten years to sharpen a sword, and once it is struck, it will be a blast and flourish everywhere. Similarly, excellent domestic varieties such as Zhengdan 958, Nongda 108 and Yedan 13 were also cultivated in an environment of focused research and no "pressure". Take Zhengdan 958 as an example. Its breeder has been engaged in corn breeding for 20 years, but has not bred any excellent varieties, has no senior professional titles, and even has no corresponding welfare benefits. After retirement, he continued his research without financial support and without a testing site. Finally, Zhengdan 958 was bred at a grassroots farm. Since then, it has ranked first in the country in terms of corn planting area for nine consecutive years. Guo Yang pondered. Zhengdan 958, Xianyu 335. These are the current and future strong competitors of Tianyu No. 1. In the next 10 years, the top spot in domestic hybrid corn seeds will only be born from these three. To be honest, Guo Yang has absolute confidence. He is too familiar with Zhengdan 958. Know its advantages and disadvantages very well! As for Xianyu 335, although it has better quality and better yield resistance than Zhengdan 958. However, the varieties that have just been launched on the market are only worthy of picking up the leftovers of Tianyu. There can only be one king in the corn seed industry. Tianyu No. 1! …… "Whoever has 958 will definitely get rich this year," Xu Xiaoxue kept repeating. When she returned to the city, she regained her appearance as an urban beauty, youthful and beautiful, with fair skin, graceful curves, and eye-catching.
It's just that his mental state seems not to have been brought back from the countryside. To put it in a less elegant way, it's like a dog that has lived in the countryside for a month and suddenly returns to the city. He was worried about the chickens, ducks and geese in the village, and he was also sad that the territory he had fought so hard to conquer was lost. When I got to the company, Xu Xiaoxue looked at the Beijing Denong Company next door. The employees were busy as if they were injected with chicken blood. I couldn't help but think, "Whoever has 958 will definitely get rich this year." Recently, after leaving Shandong Province, she has successively traveled to Henan Province, Anhui Province and other major corn producing areas in the Huanghuaihai area. Now that I am back in Beijing, the phrase I hear most often from dealers is this one. This is a phrase that has been widely circulated in the seed market in the past two years. Since last year, Zhengdan 958 has been in short supply in the market. A seed supports a business. Several companies that have the authorization for Zhengdan 958 have made a lot of money, and dealers of all sizes have also got a piece of the pie. Although she also saw many other excellent varieties, such as Tianyu No. 1, which left a deep impression on her, and the Pioneer series of hybrids. There are also some old varieties, local varieties with distinctive characteristics, and fresh-eating corn varieties. They are active in the corn seed market. But this is the era of Zhengdan 958. The promotion areas extend from the Huanghuaihai area, eastern North China, to the northwestern spring corn area, and it has become the main cultivated variety in Henan, Hebei, Shandong and other provinces. And its "star journey" is still in its golden age. She had a premonition, The planting area of Zhengdan 958 this year is likely to exceed 6000 million mu! This is absolutely a staggering number. A single corn variety with a planting area of tens of millions of acres is rarer than giant pandas. The domestic corn planting area last year was only over 3 million mu! Zhengdan 958 accounts for nearly one-fifth of the country's sown area. Xu Xiaoxue has been working at Seed Industry Weekly for three or four years and happened to witness the rise of Zhengdan 958 with her own eyes. At that time, Denghai Seeds was still the leader in the domestic corn seed industry for many years. Denghai No. 11 and Denghai No. 9, which were bred by the boss of Denghai Company himself, were making huge profits in the market at that time. But since its launch in 2001, Zhengdan 958 has caused a fierce battle for variety rights! After several rounds of bidding, four companies finally jointly bid a sky-high price of 1500 million yuan! In 2002, Zhengdan 958 launched a challenge to Denghai.
In 2003, we surpassed the world in one fell swoop! Nowadays, it is advancing rapidly in the market, squeezing out domestic corn seed brand companies such as Denghai and Shazhou. The company’s share of the domestic market has obviously shrunk, making it difficult to gain a foothold. Denghai Company's profits were reversed and it fell into losses! Pioneer Company is not good enough! Xu Xiaoxue thought with some pride. Send a seed to your country! The emergence of a strong variety changes not only the fate of a company, There is also the agricultural layout of the entire country. 'Lazy Corn' has come of age! Xu Xiaoxue's pen is written with great ease, and the article seems natural and complete! Thanks for subscribing!
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