High-protein corn eyed as means to ease China's soybean import reliance

Truckloads of newly-harvested corn are being transported to warehouses in northeast China's Jilin Province, marking China-developed high-protein corn varieties going from the laboratory to the field, with the aim to replace soybeans as livestock feed.

Lishu, a major grain-producing county in Jilin, is among the pioneers to pilot such corn production.

"Our corn looks no different from others, but the protein content is 3-4 percentage points higher than that of ordinary corn," said Qi Hongbo, head of an agricultural cooperative farm in Lishu.

The veteran grain grower said that in the past, corn farmers only cared about factors such as yield, unit weight and water content.

"This was the first year that the cooperative tried to grow high-protein corn," Qi noted -- adding that after planting for decades, he first heard this year that "high protein content" also matters.

This agricultural exploration initiative in Lishu has begun via a contract farming mode, featuring centralized collection and storage for protein processing -- with the goal of providing a soybean substitute.

Faced with uncertainty regarding soybean imports, brought about by a complicated international situation, China has been exploring various "soybean substitution" methods -- in addition to boosting the country's soybean breeding and production capacity.

High-protein corn was first proposed as an alternative option for easing the country's soybean import reliance by a research team led by Yan Jianbing, president of Huazhong Agricultural University, located in Wuhan in central China.

Based on the team's research and calculations, a one-percent increase in the protein content of corn could add about 2.8 million tonnes of protein -- which amounts to an increase of 7 million tonnes in soybean supply. Notably, if the protein content of corn is raised from the current 8 percent to 12 percent, China can reduce its annual soybean imports by nearly 30 million tonnes -- equivalent to one-third of its total soybean imports.

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, China's soybean imports had registered 105 million tonnes in 2024, with an import value of 52.7 billion U.S. dollars. This figure also reflected an increase of 23.4 million tonnes from the 2015 level, revealing a growth rate of 28.7 percent.

Soybean imports have accounted for more than 80 percent of the country's total grain imports in recent years, with this primarily needed as a protein source for feed.

China boasts an annual output of nearly 300 million tonnes of corn, the country's top grain crop. However, the average protein content of Chinese corn stands at around 8 percent, which means it is difficult to meet the protein requirements for feed.

Qi's farm achieved a "double high" in both corn yield and protein content this year, with the actual yield reaching 13,500 kilograms per hectare and their protein content amounting to 11.67 percent.

Liu Xiangguo, director of the Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology of Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said the academy has led breeding research initiatives for several new high-protein corn varieties suitable for local production -- which have demonstrated both good adaptability and high yields in the fields.

"This year marks the first year of the industrialization of high-protein corn, which has progressed from the breeding stage to the establishment of a complete industrial chain," said Liu.

However, currently there are just a few corn varieties with a stable protein content above 12 percent. Liu said test data has shown that right now their corn protein is very useful for feeding poultry and ruminant livestock, but that its protein ratio is still slightly lower than what is needed for feeding pigs.