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In a surprise U-turn,
China’s Ministry of Agriculture has decided not to continue with a program
which developed genetically-modified rice and corn. Some environmentalists say
public concerns about GM crops played a key role in the decision.
On August 17, when these
permits were up for renewal, the Ministry of Agriculture decided not to extend
them. In 2009, the ministry's Biosafety Committee issued approval certificates
to develop the two crops, rice and corn, RT reports.
Developed by the Huazhong
Agricultural University, near Wuhan, it was hoped that the GMO strains would
help to reduce pesticide use by 80 percent, while raising yields by as much as
8 percent, said Huang Jikun, the chief scientist with the Chinese Academy of
Sciences, told Reuters in 2009. It is illegal to sell genetically-modified rice
on the open market in China.
However in July, GM rice
was found on sale in a large supermarket in Wuhan, which is just across the
Yangtze River from the Huazhong Agricultural University, where the product was
developed, which caused a public outcry.
"We believe that
loopholes in assessing and monitoring [GMO] research, as well as the public
concern around safety issues are the most important reasons that the
certifications have not been renewed," Wang Jing, a Greenpeace official based in
Beijing, wrote in an email to ScienceInsider.
According to the South
China Morning Post, state television commissioned tests on five packets of
rice, which were picked at random, and found three contained
genetically-modified rice. It is illegal to sell or commercially grow GM rice
in mainland China. The safety certificates issued in 2009 only allowed the rice
to be planted for research purposes, but never for sale on the open market.
The strain, which was
found, was one of two developed by Dr. Zhang Oifa, who is a professor at the
Huazhong Agricultural University. He said, "it
was not impossible" for the seeds to be put on to the open
market.
"You can't say [the
seeds] were leaked on purpose. It's possible the seed companies have taken away
the seeds and reproduced them illegally," he said, as reported by
the South China Morning Post.
However, Huang Jikun also
believes that public opinion was not the only reason why the project was
shelved. He stated that China is reaching self-sufficiency in terms of rice
production, so therefore there was no point in producing genetically modified
versions. China exports very little rice as almost all of it is consumed within
its domestic market. Huang also admitted, "rising
public concerns [about the] safety of GM rice" likely also
played a role.
Cong Cao, who is an
associate professor at the University of Nottingham in the UK, was scathing of
the decision. Writing in ‘The Conversation’ journal, he said the move “signals a major blow to the fight to
establish GM food in China.”
Cao believes there is no
logic behind the judgment adding that “Anti-Western
sentiment has been judged more convincing than a raft of studies endorsing the
merits of agro-biotechnology. Government support for GM food is dwindling fast,
and it seems safe to say that the opportunity to commercialize GM rice – and
with it the chance to help address some of China’s most urgent problems – is
all but gone.”
The production of GM corn
has not received as much skepticism, as it is mainly fed to livestock,
according to Huang Jikun. Nevertheless, like rice, it has also not had its
license renewed.
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