BEIJING, Oct. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Origin Agritech Limited (NASDAQ: SEED) (“Origin” or the “Company”), a leading Chinese agricultural technology company, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Guizhou Origin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (“Guizhou Origin”), launches stress-tolerant corn breeding project as a part of the “Transformation and Promotion of Major Achievements in High-Yield and Stress-Tolerant Corn in the Mountainous Southwest” project under the 2026 Provincial-Municipal Joint Industrial Science and Technology Innovation Project (First Batch), running from September 2026 to August 2029. Guizhou Origin has been approved to receive RMB 1.098 million (approximately US$152,000) in science and technology funding from the Guizhou Provincial Department of Science and Technology. The Department announced the project on September 15, 2026; disbursement to Guizhou Origin is subject to final administrative procedures.
“Guizhou Origin is our main biotechnology center and our base for research and business development in Southwest China and Southeast Asia,” said Weibin Yan, Chief Executive Officer of Origin Agritech. “After several months of start-up, its laboratories and other facilities are up and running, and the team is in place. The local government and our partners have given us strong support because of the talent, strategic plans, germplasm, and technology we bring, and this award reflects that confidence.”
Key facts
| ● | Recipient: Guizhou Origin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (“Guizhou Origin”), wholly owned subsidiary of Origin Agritech Limited (NASDAQ: SEED), based in Kaiyang County, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China |
| ● | Funding source: Guizhou Provincial Department of Science and Technology |
| ● | Amount approved: RMB 1.098 million (approximately US$152,000) in science and technology funding; disbursement subject to final administrative procedures |
| ● | Program: 2026 Provincial-Municipal Joint Industrial Science and Technology Innovation Project (First Batch) |
| ● | Project: “Transformation and Promotion of Major Achievements in High-Yield and Stress-Tolerant Corn in the Mountainous Southwest” |
| ● | Project lead and partners: Guizhou Modern Seed Industry Group Co., Ltd. (lead); Guizhou Institute of Upland Crops; China Agricultural University; Guizhou Origin; other institutions |
| ● | Project period: September 2026 to August 2029 (three years) |
| ● | Total project budget: RMB 24.32 million (approximately US$3.4 million), including RMB 7.32 million (approximately US$1.0 million) of provincial fiscal funding allocated across all participants |
| ● | Guizhou Origin’s role: Task 1, the integrated commercial corn biotechnology breeding system led by China Agricultural University: germplasm screening, multi-trait breeding materials, hybrid selection, One-Step Line Formation haploid induction editing, and doubled haploid (DH) line production at scale |
Public announcement: Guizhou Provincial Department of Science and Technology, September 15, 2026, available at https://kjt.guizhou.gov.cn/xwzx/tzgg_73876/202609/t20260915_90872957.html
What the project will do
Corn in Southwest China is grown largely on fragmented, sloping mountain land, where varieties need stress tolerance, stable yields, and broad adaptability. The project is organized into three tasks:
| 1. | An integrated commercial corn biotechnology breeding system, led by China Agricultural University. |
| 2. | Creation of temperate-tropical corn germplasm and demonstration of new varieties, led by the Guizhou Institute of Upland Crops. |
| 3. | Integrated demonstration and commercial application, led by Guizhou Modern Seed Industry Group. |
What Guizhou Origin will contribute
Guizhou Origin participates in Task 1, applying its biotechnology platforms to:
| ● | identify and screen elite corn germplasm with precision; |
| ● | create breeding materials that combine multiple elite traits; |
| ● | select high-yield, stress-tolerant commercial corn hybrids; |
| ● | apply its One-Step Line Formation haploid induction editing technology to stack target traits and create germplasm adapted to the Southwest; and |
| ● | produce doubled haploid (DH) lines at scale. |
Doubled haploid breeding produces fully inbred lines in a single generation, removing several seasons of conventional self-pollination from the breeding cycle. Guizhou Origin’s DH platform has an annual capacity of 100,000 DH lines and operates alongside its genetic transformation services and its China Agricultural University Professor Workstation.
Guizhou Origin’s R&D center in Kaiyang County, Guiyang, which Origin opened as its Southwest R&D Center in August 2026, includes a 4,000-square-meter experimental zone, a 600-square-meter molecular testing platform, a 2,000-square-meter tissue culture platform, more than 15,000 square meters of intelligent greenhouses, and approximately 160 mu (about 10.7 hectares, or 26 acres) of field trial land.
Project targets through 2029
The project’s stated targets, across all participants, are new corn varieties promoted on 3 million mu (200,000 hectares); direct economic income of RMB 180 million (approximately US$25.0 million); a yield increase of 10% or more in core demonstration zones; a 15% reduction in pesticide and fertilizer use; 2,000 mu (about 133 hectares) of seed production bases; and the training of at least 10 personnel with intermediate or higher professional titles. Targeted research outputs include 13 new plant variety rights applications, 20,000 DH germplasm materials, four to five patent applications, five academic papers (two in SCI-indexed journals), and nine enterprise technical standards.
What it means for Origin Agritech
The award places Guizhou Origin inside Guizhou Province’s corn breeding program for the next three years, working alongside the province’s seed industry group and China Agricultural University. It puts the biotechnology platforms Origin built in Guizhou to work on a regional market with distinct breeding needs, and it supports the Company’s strategy of building a biotechnology-led breeding platform and bringing new varieties to regional markets across China.
About Origin Agritech Limited
Origin Agritech Limited, founded in 1997 and headquartered at the Origin R&D Center in Songzhuang, Tongzhou, Beijing, is a leading Chinese agricultural technology company. In crop seed biotechnology, Origin Agritech’s phytase corn was the first transgenic corn to receive a Biosafety Certificate from China’s Ministry of Agriculture. Over the years, Origin has established a robust biotechnology seed pipeline, including products with glyphosate tolerance and Bt (pest resistance) traits. For further information, please visit the Company’s website at www.originagritech.com. The Company also maintains an X account to update investors on Company and industry developments, available at https://x.com/origin_agritech.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the disbursement of the provincial funding to Guizhou Origin, Guizhou Origin’s participation in and contributions to the project, the project’s targets for variety promotion, yields, input use, economic income, and research outputs, the expected benefits of the project to growers and to the Company, Guizhou Origin’s role as the Company’s base for research and business development in Southwest China and Southeast Asia, and the Company’s strategy of building a biotechnology-led breeding platform and bringing new varieties to regional markets. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “seek,” “will,” “would,” “target,” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The project targets described in this press release apply to the project as a whole, across all participants, and are not forecasts of the Company’s results. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties — including the risk that disbursement of the funding is delayed, reduced, or does not occur if final administrative procedures are not completed, changes in provincial funding priorities or project terms, Guizhou Origin’s reliance on the project lead and other participants, the risk that the project does not meet its targets, field trial results, weather and growing conditions in mountainous areas, the time and cost of regulatory approval for new and biotechnology-derived varieties, grower adoption of new varieties, competitive variety introductions, pricing pressure in the Chinese seed market, regulatory and agricultural policy developments in China and in other markets the Company may enter, currency fluctuation, and the Company’s ability to staff, fund, and operate its Guizhou facilities — which may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Origin Agritech undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities and other applicable laws.
For more information, please contact:
Origin Agritech Limited Contact:
Kate Lang (Mandarin/English)
Director of Investor Relations
Phone: +86 186-1839-3368
Email: [email protected]
Investor Relations Contact:
Matthew Abenante, IRC
President
Strategic Investor Relations LLC
Tel: 347-947-2093
Email: [email protected]
