Feeding China's billions, one seed at a time

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Feeding China's 1.3 billion population is no easy task, and the challenge is becoming harder as the country's urban sprawl encroaches on precious farmland.

But Dr. Seed, a start-up that won the Sustainable Technology Award at the McGinnis Venture Competition in Pittsburgh over the weekend, is addressing the problem by harnessing seed-improvement technology.

Jonathan Chin, a member of the team behind Dr. Seed, accepts the McGinnis Venture Competition prize money.

The technology blasts soybean, corn and other grain seeds with light from a plasma-quartz bulb, which helps them to withstand drought and stave off seed-borne diseases. The result is higher yielding crops for farmers.

"Demand for food is increasing in China. At the same time many poor farmers are struggling to meet this demand because of the rapid pace of urbanization," Jonathan Chin, a member of the nine-person team behind Dr. Seed, said.

Dr. Seed, formed by students in the Beijing International MBA program at Peking University, took home the award for the best business plan to address sustainable technology at the annual venture competition.

Hosted by Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business, the McGinnis Venture Competition is open to MBA teams from around the world, and is designed to help entrepreneurs bring their technology to market.

The seed-improvement technology has been tested in labs and in the field already and should be rolled out in Northeast China's Jilin Province within several months, according to Chin.

Farmers should be able to treat enough seed to plant one acre of land for about 3 yuan, or about 40 U.S. cents, according to the company's estimates.

Meanwhile, Dr. Seed is fielding calls from venture investors. And as for the McGinnis prize money - $15,000 in cash and $20,000 in business services - Dr. Seed is planning to plow all of that back into the company.

Where to get business advice - free