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February 9, 2015

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Home » Opinion » Chinese Views

China poised to plunge more seriously into researching, producing GMO crops

RESEARCH and commercialization of genetically modified organisms (GMO) are expected to gain momentum in China after years of GM crop decline amid public safety concerns.

The “No.1 Central Document of 2015,” jointly issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and State Council last week, states that more effort will be put into studying GMOs.

China has seen falling agricultural productivity in recent years thanks to surging production costs, shortages of agricultural resources, excessive exploitation and worsening pollution. The decline has prompted more imported food and raised concerns about future food supply, the document said.

Though controversial, the development of GMO technology has long been considered an effective way to increase yields on marginal lands.

China has only 7 percent of the world’s arable land but has to feed 22 percent of the world’s population. As a country with a population exceeding 1.3 billion, restrictions of environmental resources, especially land, are getting more serious.

“We cannot lag behind others in the GMO research”, said Han Jun, deputy head of the central office for agricultural work, at a news briefing last week. “Our GMO market should not be saturated by foreign brands.” Currently, only GM cotton and papaya are allowed to be grown commercially in China, with GM staple foods prohibited from being grown. But the country is a major importer of GM farm produce, including soybeans, rapeseed, cotton and corn.

Public resistance

China imported more than 71 million tons of soybeans in 2014, mostly of the GMO variety. China encourages its scientists to grasp the “commanding heights” of GMO technologies, Han said.

Fierce resistance from the public has turned China from one of the world’s biggest investors in this field into one of the most conservative consumers of the technology. According to a poll by the Public Opinion Research Laboratory of Shanghai Jiao Tong University last year, less than 1 percent of the 1,050 respondents fully accepted GM food. About 33 percent said they would not accept GM products and 36 percent were concerned about their safety.

China’s genetically modified crop planting areas have continued to decline since the late 1990s. Between 1997 and 2001, China encouraged the application of insect-resistant GM cotton and was the fourth-largest GM crop grower globally. But its status was surpassed by Brazil and India in 2003 and 2006, respectively, said Huang Dafang, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Chinese farmers grew 3.9 million hectares of GM cotton in 2014, down 300,000 hectares from the previous year, and the country remained the sixth-largest GM crop grower globally, according to a study done by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications.

The funding for major GM seed-cultivation programs was cut to 400 million yuan (US$65 million) in 2013 from 2 billion yuan in 2010, according to Ke Bingsheng, president of the China Agricultural University.

China has been strict on GM research and production since the Regulations on Administration of Agricultural GMO Safety were implemented in 2001.

In December, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) reiterated its stance on the issue, saying a line must be drawn between research and production. “We need to be daring on scientific research and innovation, but very prudent on production,” said MOA spokesman Bi Meijia.

Currently, only two GM rice species hold MOA safety certificates, and neither is allowed to be grown commercially. However, some farmers secretly plant GM rice. According to regulations, those who illegally grow GM crops will be fined a maximum of 50,000 yuan, which is only a minor deterrent, said Wu Qiongze, an official with the Hainan Provincial Agriculture Department.




 

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