China’s Glyphosate GM crop herbicides granted registration, likely to change market structure of corn, soybean herbicides

On March 29, 2024, ICAMA of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced that it intends to approve the third batch of pesticide registrations in 2024. AgroPages noticed that the pesticides included in this batch of registrations include the glyphosate GM crop herbicides produced by Jiangshan Agrochemical & Chemicals and Wynca, which are now open for public feedback.

Formation of glyphosate-resistant biotechnological crop system in China

Since 1996, when the first GM crop was planted in the United States and Canada on a large pilot scale, GM crops quickly went viral around the world, due to their traits of high yield and stress resistance. International companies subsequently utilized their integrated sales model of ″traits, varieties and medicines,″ which farmers heavily relied on.

Since 2008, when China first approved the launch of a major scientific and technological program for the cultivation of new GM varieties, it drafted new GM crop industrialization policies one after another. In 2024, the Central Government Document No. 1 again recommended the accelerated industrialization of biotechnological breeding. At the same time, since December 6, 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has approved 64 GM corn varieties and 17 GM soybean varieties totaling 81 varieties, most of which are glyphosate-tolerant varieties.

The public announcement of the preliminary review of GM varieties indicates a new era of industrialized biotechnological breeding in China. Following the preliminary review, the public announcement of the first batch of intended registration approvals for extended application serves as the last step for the legal use of biotechnological breeding, officially placing China’s agricultural GMO on the right track.

Wynca - First Chinese biotechnological breeding trait, seed, and pesticide integrator

In 2001, Wynca implemented its ″trait, seed and pesticide″ integration strategy, having employed professional staff to engage in the research of GM traits and invested in seed companies that conduct GM breeding research. Since the implementation of China’s Seed Industry Revitalization Strategy in 2021, Wynca has been active in GM crop piloting initiatives organized and implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Wynca has cooperated with agricultural industry sectors in providing technical pesticide application guidance in various provinces, including Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Yunnan, and Sichuan. Over the past three years, Wynca has served more than one million mu of GM crop growing area, and its glyphosate has been recognized by experts of the Ministry of Agriculture and growers for its stable quality and excellent herbicidal effect.

Jiangshan Agrochemical & Chemicals: Advanced product layout to provide ″China seeds″ with the ″Jiangshan crop protection solution″

Nantong Jiangshan Agrochemical & Chemicals has adopted an extensive plan and created an advanced product structure to lead the way for the next generation of biotechnological crop breeding-oriented weeding. In 2023, as a leader in drafting of a series of group standards for the safe and scientific use of herbicides in GM herbicide-tolerant crop growing, Nantong Jiangshan Agrochemical & Chemicals contributed to improving the safe and scientific standards of use for GM crops. Meanwhile, the company has cooperated with the working group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 20 counties across five provinces in support of GM soybean and corn commercialization pilot-oriented technical training and promotion initiatives, which is the first practical contribution of the company to China’s GMO development and promotion.

Since China’s launch of a pilot program for the industrialization of biotechnological breeding in 2021, Nantong Jiangshan Agrochemical & Chemicals has fully participated. The company’s technical services and product quality have been well established and proven. Its product, Honglingda, which contains more than 95% high-purity glyphosate technical, can effectively solve serious weed issues in biotechnological breeding crop fields in various locations. In 2023, Honglingda was applied and proven in 500,000 mu of biotechnological breeding crop fields, accounting for more than 60% of the total glyphosate-applied piloting area, being used by more than 10,000 farmers who have expressed their satisfaction.

In addition, Nantong Jiangshan Agrochemical & Chemicals has created a full-scale product structure to provide ″China seeds″ with the ″Jiangshan crop protection solution.″ Targeting the two major crops, corn and soybean, the company has established two production bases in the north and south China, which cover the main soybean and corn planting regions of the country. Considering the crop growth and development cycle, Nantong Jiangshan Agrochemical & Chemicals has developed a rich product portfolio to provide a full portfolio of corn and soybean crop protection solutions.