China's LongPing to launch Brazil sorghum seed next year

By Ana Mano

SAO PAULO, May 16 (Reuters) - Chinese seed company LongPing High-Tech is preparing the commercial launch of a new sorghum seed aimed at Brazilian farmers next January, Brazil Chief Executive Aldenir Sgarbossa told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

The company, which mainly focuses on corn seeds, is also working to adapt a Chinese soy seed to Brazilian conditions that could be launched by the 2025/2026 crop season, the executive said.

LongPing's plans for the Brazilian market, where it sells products under the Morgan and Forseed brands, means fiercer competition for rivals like Bayer and Corteva .

In the future, corn will be LongPing's No.1 seed platform, soy second and sorghum third, Sgarbossa said. LongPing High-Tech Agriculture Co Ltd's Brazil office will also lead an international expansion, the executive said from the town of Cravinhos, where it is building new local headquarters.

The Brazilian unit of LongPing already oversees its international operations in the United States, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile, among others, he said.

The company, which engages in the development, planting and packaging of seeds, has two industrial facilities in Brazil. One is in Paracatu, Minas Gerais state, and the second is in Primavera do Leste, in Brazil's top grain state of Mato Grosso.

Last week, LongPing announced investments of about 500 million reais ($99 million) to grow its presence in Brazil.

"Internally, we say we are doing in one-and-a-half-year something that needs 10 years to get done," Sgarbossa said. ($1 = 5.0511 reais) (Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)