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Seeds of hope may be gone with the wind

Seeds of hope may be gone with the wind

Updated: 2012-03-22 08:02

By He Na and Han Junhong in Jilin (China Daily)

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"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.

Seeds of hope may be gone with the wind 

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