The seed market is a very small segment, with global annual revenue of only about one billion US dollars.

Moreover, this is a relatively mature field, with a compound annual growth rate of only 0.2% in market size over the years.

Compared to the semiconductor and new energy industries, its development is very slow.

Of course, the sudden rise of China Seed Industry Group in 2022 led to an increase of about 13% in the size of the entire seed market.

Seawater rice is being cultivated on a large scale in China, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and other regions, representing a new market segment.

Previously, seawater rice only existed in laboratories and had not been widely promoted.

In this field, the gap between Huaguo and Amerike is not large. In 2019, Amerike and Huaguo ranked first and second in the seed industry market, with corresponding market shares of 26.7% and 21.2%.

However, the gross profit margins vary greatly. The gross profit margins of most Chinese companies fluctuate around 20%, and some listed companies even have a gross profit margin of only 10%.

Meanwhile, seed industry giants in Europe and America, such as Monsanto, have a gross profit margin of 60%.

It is precisely because of the huge profit gap that multinational giants in Europe and the United States have more funds to invest in research and development, and thus their industrial advantages are even greater.

Take Huaguo Seed Industry Company, which has a gross profit margin of 10%, as an example. Their net assets are around 1.7 billion yuan, and their net profit is negative 7 million yuan. In 2021, the government gave them a total of about 8.5 million yuan in subsidies.

How much can a company like this invest in research and development? Its annual R&D expenses are only 27 million yuan, while its management expenses are 71 million yuan.

This is also true in many niche sectors, where Europe and the United States occupy the upstream of the industrial chain, have established industrial advantages, and control international trade pricing power.

China needs time, capital investment, and R&D investment to move up the value chain.

Most countries are unable to escape the middle-income trap precisely because they lack the ability and determination to climb up the value chain.

Meanwhile, Europe and America, by occupying the upstream of a wide range of niche industries, enjoy high profit margins, which allows them to support a relatively affluent and less stressful lifestyle.

(Sorry, I couldn't help but talk a bit too much once I started. Since the No. 1 document of the country this year emphasizes the development of agriculture, and in the spirit of being responsible for my own money when investing, I have been studying the financial reports of listed companies related to the seed industry over the past few days.)

Research and development investment is very low. Some listed seed companies with a market value of 3 billion yuan only invest 8 million yuan in R&D per year. Better ones with a market value of 20 billion yuan spend only 40 million yuan on R&D.

From what I've seen, the highest R&D investment is only around 110 million RMB.

Monsanto's R&D investment ten years ago was around 1.5 billion US dollars.

The situation is far from optimistic.

Syngenta's market share has been significantly eroded.

China Seed Industry Group not only seized market share from these European and American seed companies, but also opened up many new markets.

Most importantly, they seem to have developed a new way of breeding genetically modified seeds.

Therefore, they are eager to get a share of the profits.

After internal discussions, Chen Jingrui decided to entrust the cultivation of some seeds to Syngenta, which would then sell them in Europe. This was a feasible option.

After all, China Seed Industry Group has acquired a controlling stake in Syngenta.

However, Syngenta wanted to participate in the research and development work of China Seed Industry Group, but they did not have the authority to decide on this matter.

Because of the research institute, China Seed Industry Group has no way to interfere.

Syngenta is having a tough time, and Monsanto is having an even worse time, unable to find a solution, and Grant's position as president is teetering on the brink of collapse.

Monsanto's shareholders were growing dissatisfied with him, and Grant was under immense pressure, which he could only pass on to his subordinates:

"Furily, it's been almost a year since China's super soybeans were introduced, why haven't we found the secret behind their rapid development?"

"Moreover, the Chinese have introduced a series of seeds that are superior to all other products on the market, including rice, wheat, corn, and cotton."

"Our market share this year has dropped by at least 50 percent compared to last year!"

Specific data is not yet available.

Fureli used to argue his case every time and find various excuses to delay.

Grant wanted to cut some researchers and reduce the scale of the research, but Fureley was unwilling, wanting to fight for the interests of his subordinates.

Monsanto invests 10% of its revenue in R&D every year. This year's decline in revenue means that R&D investment must also be reduced significantly. In this situation, the only option is to lay off employees.

However, this time Fureli did not refute, nor did he confidently say that he would definitely find the cause if given more time. Instead, he looked dejected.

"Grant, are you familiar with that recent paper published in Science about the existence of the soul?"

Grant nodded and said, "I saw it. Isn't that just a detailed version of Merlin's paper published in Magic.? Even the name is a variant of Merlin's. What's so special about that?"

"We should all know that, there are even teams in the lab that specialize in research on the soul."

Yes, Monsanto wanted to see if they could develop magical plants, so they established a dedicated soul research team.

They attempted to cultivate plants using souls as the material.

However, they have indeed made some progress in this area. A large number of souls fill the air, and the plants they cultivate exhibit very subtle characteristics, so subtle that you cannot tell whether the change is due to the souls.

We are still a long way from cultivating real magical materials.

Moreover, due to the need to use intelligent organisms as materials, the price of intelligent life has been rising steadily in the past two years.

Previously, when Zheng Li was still in Singapore, the price of a laboratory monkey was 300,000 RMB. Now, that price has risen to one million RMB.

As a result, monkeys on Mount Emei are frequently poached.

Monkeys have become a resource whose price has risen even more dramatically than lithium.

This was something Zheng Li hadn't expected; buying experimental monkeys to conduct experiments now costs a lot of money.

The soaring price of laboratory monkeys has significantly increased the research and development costs for domestic biopharmaceutical companies.

With the development of effective drugs by Amerex, Glenn's fund continued to fall, with no bottom in sight.

A bunch of novices who chased after star fund managers have lost a fortune.

Fureli nodded and said, "Yes, according to information I received from a friend, China is indeed combining magic and breeding."

"That's why they've had a lot of high-quality genetically modified seeds this year."

"This is a completely different system from our genetically modified breeding network, and we have no way to learn from it."

"You should have a deep understanding of how difficult it is to obtain the Demon Brain; this is not something that Monsanto could research."

Many large companies want to get involved with Magic Brain and Magic Coin, but the returns they will get after investing massive amounts of money are completely unknown.

No one can really explain what "Magic Brain" is. Therefore, many large companies have chosen to abandon it.