In China, Cargill finds a sweet spot

The company has partnered with the World Wildlife Fund to train 25,000 corn farmers in China by the end of 2014. Its goal is to improve yields by 20 percent, reduce waste by 10 to 15 percent, conserve water and reduce its overall environmental impact, including its carbon footprint, through fertilizer optimization. Ten demonstrations farms are currently underway in Northeast China's Jilin province.

For new growth drivers, Aspell says the most obvious is the modernization of livestock and the food supply chain, which is a big area in which there are lots of investments. Cargill has also made significant long-term investments in China's agriculture supply chain such as oilseeds processing, animal feeds, refined oil, fully integrated poultry business, starch and sweetener business, food specialty and health promotion products.

In 2011, Cargill launched a fully integrated project covering each part of the poultry supply chain in East China's Anhui province to minimize food disruption, from feed production, chicken breeding, raising, hatching, slaughtering and processing.

Aspell says the company will continue to introduce new technologies in food safety, poultry raising, animal nutrition, disease prevention, environmental protection and energy savings. The total investment in the project is expected to be around $200 million.

According to Aspell, China has more or less progressed in the right direction when it comes to improving agricultural production capacity and quality. On the grain production side, the county's overall output has grown substantially since 2005. Corn production alone has seen a 40 percent increase since 2005. The better yields have led to higher rural incomes and stable food production.

"At Cargill, we believe that to meet the growing global food needs, one of the key essentials is an open global market where countries grow what they are really good at, export their surpluses and buy what others can produce more efficiently," he says. "China's entrance into the WTO was a critical step that ensured that China could use the global food system efficiently to fill in the gaps in its overall supply.

"We would like to see responsible investments in terms of investing in the right parts of the supply chain. Too often we see too much money move into parts of the supply chain that already have more than sufficient capacity. We see this in many industries in China."

In addition to agricultural investments, Cargill is also working with its key customers to deliver innovation in areas like nutrition, new menu item, and risk-management solutions. These innovations will help to bring increased menu and product diversity, while ensuring a sustainable source of food at a fair value.

Food consumption is normally a good indicator of the economy and the population size. In China, food consumption is rising and so are the types of food that people are eating. Foods have become more sophisticated and people now look more for convenience, Aspell says.

Ding from the Academy of State Administration of Grain says foreign food traders and their investment in China's agriculture business can help the nation ease the pressure on natural resources and ensure the country's food supplies, because they are proficient in the international food trade, green agricultural technologies and producing food with better quality.

"The participation of foreign food companies and growing demand for agricultural products in China have brought more choices to consumers, as they have better and more options to pick products that they think are cheaper, safer and better in taste," Ding says.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn