Market Trends of China Forage Seed Industry
Increasing Livestock Production
China's livestock industry experienced a vast transition during last three decades, with profound effects on domestic and global food provision, resource use, nitrogen and phosphorous losses and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to FAO, the Chinese livestock population has grown from 20 billion heads in 2016 to 21.08 billion heads in 2018, showing a 5 % increase in the livestock population. Increasing population trends are supporting the growth of the meat and seafood market. In recent years, due to increasing awareness on health and benefits of nutrients intake by the people there has been a growing demand for meat and dairy products in China. To meet these rising meat consumption demands, there has been an increase of 1.5% in meat production from 2016 to 2018. With these, rising demand for protein sources, limited availability of land and water resources for animal feed production and increasing use of these resources for food and ethanol production the demand for animal feed in the meat industry is estimated to increase.
Cereal Forage Seed Dominates the Market
Among various types of forage crops cultivated in China, cereals occupy the top position. Corn is the major cereal forage crop grown in China. In recent years, the Chinese government has gradually allowed the use of more land for forage crops, such as corn silage and alfalfa. The Chinese Government initiated a program in 2015, to convert more grain corn to silage. In 2019, the total area for planted corn was 35 million hectares, which produced about 231 million tons of corn. Of this, 119 million tons were for human consumption, 112 million tons were forage, mainly for pigs and chicken, and a small remainder for reserves. According to China's Development Plans for Adjustment of Crop Farming Structure, by the end of the year 2020, the forage areas will reach 6.3 million hectares, of which most will be corn silage. Cereal crops are in high demand from animal farms, as they provide a rich source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and oils, and protein. The rising demands for poultry and livestock production leads to increase demand for cereal forage crop during the forecast period.
