Soybean planting area is declining daily

After China's accession to the WTO, soybeans, as a crop facing the international market, have no quota restrictions on import, and soybean processing companies do not have protection. International soybean prices have skyrocketed and plummeted and continued to crack down on domestic soybeans.

With the decreasing soybean cultivation area and the large number of soybean squeezing and processing enterprises shutting down, the soybean industry in China is facing severe challenges.

The soybean planting area in the province of Heilongjiang was reduced from a maximum of more than 63 million mu to 38.99 million mu in 2012. According to a comprehensive analysis, in 2013, soybean planting area in Heilongjiang will be reduced by more than 10%.

The structural problems in the area reduction are even more noteworthy, and it is increasingly difficult to see the "body figure" of soybeans in good locations. In the past five years, the area of ​​soybean reduction mainly concentrated in the second and fourth accumulated temperature zones, of which the second accumulated temperature zone had the largest drop, accounting for 44% of the reduced area. The first accumulated temperature zone with better thermal conditions is currently sporadic. The five-six-thousand-recovery temperate soybean planting area in the high-cold zone is relatively stable.

Lack of policy support

The reasons for the reduction of soybean planting area are many reasons, including the inadequacy of the "internal strength" of the unpredictable rise of domestic soybean yield, and the external impact of imported genetically modified soybeans. In recent years, the country’s lack of policies to support soybean cultivation has also helped this trend to a certain extent.

Soybeans are still economic crops and cannot enjoy many policy preferences. “Our county has 401 million mu of arable land, and its grain output has rapidly increased in recent years. In 2012, it reached more than 3.6 million tons, and it received the national grain production county award fund. If we grow soybeans, the soybean production is only a quarter of that of corn. First, the total grain output will not meet the standards of the major counties, and we will not be able to obtain the national rewards.” Wang Yangbo, director of the Agricultural Bureau of Yi'an County, reluctantly said.

Zhang Guichun, director of the Nongsan Sanjiu Bureau, said: “To keep soybeans, it must be a package plan. As long as the country issues relevant regulatory policies, we will go all out to do a good job of soybean production.”

As China's total food demand continues to increase, what is the future of soybeans? Professionals believe that it is impossible to substantially restore soybean production. It is imperative that comprehensive measures be taken to curb the momentum of continued decline in soybean production and maintain a certain degree of self-sufficiency in domestic soybeans. Zhu Xiuqing, deputy director of the National Soybean Engineering Technology Research Center, said: "Soybeans should not be treated simply as oil. It should be included in food crops and enjoy relevant preferential treatment."

The new measures must take care of all interests and mobilize the enthusiasm of the entire chain. Ma Shuping, deputy director of the Ministry of Agriculture's Seed Bureau, said that subsidies should be increased to reduce the cost of planting links and mobilize the enthusiasm of farmers. At the same time, the county issued a policy of incentives for producing major soybeans and mobilized the enthusiasm of local governments for catching soybeans. In addition, actively cultivating the consumer market of non-GM soybeans has stimulated the increase in the prices of non-GM soybean products and mobilized the enthusiasm of enterprises to purchase processed domestic soybeans. In the long run, we must also strengthen scientific research and increase soybean yields.