A short review of the hybrid rice seed industry in China

摘要

After 30 years of development, the business model of the Chinese hybrid rice industry has changed markedly, from a 100% government business to a nearly 100% market-oriented one. Industry concentration has also increased. But the disorderly competition is still there and will last for a while, such as with the homogenization of products. The limited entry for businesses allows small companies to operate in a very flexible and irregular way, which could give them more advantages in promotion and sales policies. But this is rather harmful to the benefit of growers and other business players who strictly follow government regulations and fully consider the benefit of farmers. Meanwhile, China is turning toward a free-market economy and seed companies, even if not big right now,must become major players in the market. Their weaknesses are obvious-R&D with their own intellectual property and control, human resources with the idea of market competition, investment capabilities, etc. Two things make their survival more difficult—technology upgrading and international competition.This paper gives a brief review of the hybrid rice industry in China, its history,current situation, and development trends.