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Chinese scientists push GM rice for commercialization
June 8, 2004

Business Daily Update via AgbioView

Leading Chinese biotechnology scientists last spring began lobbying the central government to allow the commercialization of genetically modified (GM) rice varieties. Although their efforts have not resulted in positive results, experts suggest their campaign could eventually result in the development of China's plant biotechnologies. "Our GM rice technologies are technically mature and ready to commercialize. What's lacking is the leadership's bold decision," said Zhu Zhen, a leading rice scientist and deputy director of the Bureau of Life Science and Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

A group of leading Chinese biotechnology scientists recently released a report urging the central government to allow, as soon as possible, the commercial planting of GM rice. Late last month, an official with the GMO Safety Office, under the Ministry of Agriculture, said the government had not made a decision on the GM rice issue. No country has approved the commercialization of GM rice. Some GM crops -- including soybean, cotton, corn and tobacco -- have been commercialized in some nations. Soybean crops account for 61 per cent of the GM crops harvested annually. Chinese researchers, in recent years, have developed several GM rice varieties resistant to China's major rice pests. The varieties include strains that can resist stem borer, by using Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), delta endotoxin and cowpea trypsin inhibitor CpTI genes; protease inhibitor rice; planthopper and bacterial leaf blight, by using the rice plant disease resistance Xa21 gene; and fungal-resistant rice.

China has the largest field for GM rice trials, and the country's plantation technologies and management of GM rice surpass those of Monsanto, the US-based biotechnology giant, and Germany-based Bayer, said Wang Feng, a biotechnology scientist with Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He chairs China's largest GM rice field-trial site. Yet, the Chinese Government, facing increasing international pressure, adopted a cautious policy in 1999. Chinese media eventually stopped reporting on the nation's plant biotechnology achievements, and many labs involved in the GM rice studies began shifting their research. "At that time, China was preparing to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). On the one hand, the government worried that other countries, especially those in the European Union (EU), used the GM issue as a pretext to block China's WTO entry," said Huang Jikun, director of CAS's Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy. "On the other hand, the government hoped to wield GM technologies as a shield to defend its own fragile agriculture from the effects of foreign grain exports." The situation is changing. Smoother situation Li Qing, head of the policy department under the China National Centre for Biotechnology Development (CNCBD), said the international community is gradually warming to plant biotechnology. EU officials, after implementing a strict ban on GM products for more than a decade, is beginning to adopt a more flexible attitude towards plant biotechnologies.

"The changing political environment has prompted the Chinese scientists to push GM rice," Li said. The Chinese Government last year substantially increased funding for GM rice research. An Daochang, CNCBD's deputy director, estimates one-third of the money is being spent on GM technologies. Zhu estimates between 25-30 per cent of China's plant biotechnology investments are spent on GM rice programmes. The Chinese Government has become the world's second-largest spender on plant biotechnologies. The United States is first. China in the past two years has advanced preparatory work to commercialize GM rice. China is expected to launch at least 10 GM rice field trials between 2001 and 2005 with the aim of proceeding towards commercialization, Guo Longbiao, a leading rice scientist with Hangzhou-based China National Rice Research Institute, said.

The EU's more flexible attitude towards plant biotechnologies is the result of the bloc's failure to keep up with scientific developments, Zhu said. The United States and some European countries in the 1980s developed different varieties of GM soybean and wheat. But, given Europe's stricter restrictions, EU scientists are still researching GM wheat. Meanwhile, US-based GM soybean has conquered the world market. "If a technology is not commercialized, it will never achieve significant progress. I hope China will not miss the opportunity," Zhu said. Other factors may prompt authorities to change their opinions on GM rice. Policy-makers, due to declining grain output over the past five years, have worried about food supplies, Huang said. Many farmers, given the high costs of fertilizers and pesticides used on grain crops, decided either to give up their land or turn to cash crops. China's grain output last year reached 430.7 million tons, down 81.6 million tons from 1998.

The country's per capita grain output last year fell to 333 kilograms from 411 kilograms in 1998. In particular, the production of rice -- which feeds 90 per cent of China's 1.3-billion-plus residents -- has decreased from 200 million tons in 1999 to 168 million tons last year, indicates a report published recently by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications. The shortage of rice triggered a 27-per-cent rise in rice prices in China in the year's first quarter, indicate Ministry of Agriculture statistics. Meanwhile, international rice prices rose only 9.1 per cent. Mass production of GM rice varieties that are resistant to pests may alleviate the problem, Huang said. (US $ 22.90), annually, per hectare planted.

For example, if China commercialized GM rice in 2002, the technology might have saved the nation US $ 4.2 billion in 2010, Huang estimated. Scott Rozelle, an agricultural economist with the University of California, Davis, said GM rice, if widely used, would have an even greater impact, compared with GM cotton, on China's agriculture sector. Rozelle has for years researched China's agricultural biotechnology. He works for the Chinese Government on several agricultural consulting programmes. GM cotton has become a "miracle crop" in China since it was commercialized in 1996. More than half of China's cotton is genetically modified. One reason for the success of GM cotton is the crop has helped farmers cut production costs, by an average 30 per cent, GM advocates suggest.

Also, the crops reduced farmers' exposure to chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers. Huang suggested failed efforts, including strict safety regulations, to prevent imports of GM soybean should make decision-makers understand such moves will not help Chinese farmers cope with the effects of foreign imports. China, in June 2001, adopted a safety certificate system, which required importers of GM crops to have safety certificates, issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, for the products. China, however, did not issue the certificates between 2001-03. Temporary certificates were issued to allow importation of GM crops, which were mainly soybean. China's delay in issuing safety certificates did not prevent a flood of GM crops from entering the country. China has been the world's largest importer of GM soybean in the past three years. The country imported 20.74 million tons of soybean, worth US $ 4.8 billion, last year. That was up 82 per cent over the previous year. More than 90 per cent of the soybean crops imported by China have been genetically modified. In late February, China's Ministry of Agriculture issued safety certificates that allowed the importations of five GM varieties -- one strain of soybean, two strains of corn and two varieties of cotton. All are produced by US-based Monsanto. Growing opposition Since the late 1990s, opponents -- from environmentalists and economists to consumers -- have become more vocal in their opposition to GM technologies.

Pang Cheung Sze, an opponent of GM crops with Greenpeace China, contends China lacks effective and transparent biosafety management regulations. "Determining whether GM technologies are good or bad depends on biotechnology scientists, who benefit from the commercialization of GM crops. An independent, fair judgment is important," Sze said. "Given the gene flow between GM plants and related species, cultivation of GM rice could threaten the environment." Several scientists from environmental and agricultural institutes agree with Sze.

Xue Dayuan, a research fellow at the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science, said the Bt gene used to make GM cotton resistant to insects could cause the pests to evolve into "super" bugs that are impermeable to most pesticides. Chang Ruzhen, a scientist specializing in soybean crops with the Institute of Plant Varieties under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), said gene pollution -- such as that experienced in Mexico, on wild corn varieties, in the late 1990s -- could occur in China if the country plants massive amounts of GM rice and soybean. "China has the world's oldest varieties of wild soybean and rice species. If their natural genes are destroyed by floating genes from GM varieties, it will be a disaster," Chang said.

Most consumers, meanwhile, are concerned about whether GM crops will affect people's health. Zhu Yanling, a Shanghai-based consumer, sued Swiss food giant Nestle late last year. She alleged the company did not label GM ingredients in some of its products. The Ministry of Agriculture in 2002 listed 17 products under five categories of GM plants -- soybean, corn, rapeseed, cotton seed and tomatoes. The ministry also required those products be clearly labelled as GM products. Zhu lost the case, which was decided last April.

Many People still share her concern. In a consumer survey, commissioned by Greenpeace in February in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, 87 per cent of respondents said they wanted food producers to label their GM products. Forty per cent of respondents said they would purchase non-GM foods, and 24 per cent said they would choose GM products. Seventy per cent of respondents said they would lose confidence in a food brand if they learned its products contained GM ingredients. Fifty-five per cent of respondents said they would not buy GM products for their children. Environmentalists and consumers' groups claimed victory on May 10 after Monsanto announced it would not produce GM wheat, which had been widely expected to be its next big GM product. Monsanto's decision was reportedly in response to environmentalists' escalating opposition to GM crops. The decision was a major setback for the company, which has pioneered the genetic development of crops.

Economists have also argued against the possibility of China developing genetically modified grain. Xia Youfu, a commerce professor with the University of International Business and Economics, said China's plant biotechnologists lack business management experience. China, he added, does not have large biotechnology firms such as Monsanto. "So, if China commercializes GM rice technologies, small and new Chinese biotechnology firms will be easily defeated by Monsanto or Bayer," Xia said. "The huge Chinese market will be dominated by these foreign giants." Since 1996, when China commercialized GM cotton, Monsanto's market share of GM cotton seeds has expanded. In some provinces, Monsanto accounts for half of the market. Steady advance Previously, China's biotechnology scientists never attempted to refute environmentalists' claims and/or accusations.

Now, they are speaking up -- more forcefully, and more often. Jia Shirong, a renowned plant biologist with CAAS' Institute of Biotechnologies, chaired, for more than five years, the tests to determine the safety of GM crops. The tests were conducted in the tropical island of Hainan Province. None of the findings -- various tests were conducted -- indicated GM crops would severely affect the environment, Jia said. "As for gene floating, it always exists in nature. But it is nothing to be worried about, because transplanted genes, such as Bt, have proven harmless to humans and the environment," Jia said. Zhang Qifa, an academic with CAS and dean of Huazhong University of Agriculture's School of Biotechnology, agrees with Jia. Zhang said most genes being transplanted into GM rice -- such as insect-resistant Bt -- have been transplanted into commercialized GM plants, such as soybean and cotton, over the past 20 years. The genes would affect rice much the same way they have cotton and soybean, Zhang added.

"Most of the world's soybean oil is produced from Bt soybean. It has been consumed by humans for a decade, without negative side effects," Zhang said. Zhang has led China's Bt rice research for 10 years. Gerard Barry, a leading scientist with the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute, said China's scientists and institutions have a lengthy, fruitful experience in GM rice research. In addition, scientific studies on the biosafety aspects -- crops, food and environmental criteria -- of these products have been published in science journals. Yet, environmental groups still argue the effects of GM crops might not be felt for several years. "Suggesting people will be harmed 1,000 years later, due to GM food, is like suggesting the earth will be destroyed by a big disaster after 10 centuries. Neither assertion is based on science," CAS' Zhu said. Even though there could be some side effects, people must objectively decide whether the potential risks outweigh the obvious benefits, Zhu added. In addition to the economic benefits, GM rice will reduce the need for dangerous pesticides, which will benefit farmers' health, Zhu said.

"Rice is produced by farmers, who are concerned about the productivity of their crops, earning an equitable return on their investments, and the health and welfare of their families and land," Barry said. "So, they should have the right to participate in the decision about whether the country will develop GM rice." Huang said if China commercializes GM rice, the benefits would outweigh the possible economic losses resulting from import bans on China's rice. China exports less than 1 per cent of its rice. China, in recent months, due to declining output, has imported more rice from Thailand and Viet Nam. Zhu said India and some other countries have rapidly developed GM technologies in recent years. China, he suggested, runs the risk of losing the opportunity to be a world leader in biotechnology if it doesn't commercialize its technologically advantageous GM rice before other nations commercialize their GM products. China's biotechnologists should not worry about Monsanto, said Wang Feng with the Fujian Academy of Agricultural Science. The situation has changed since China commercialized GM cotton. Then, China had to rely on Monsanto's technologies. Now, the nation has its own, strong GM rice technology. That means China's biotechnology firms can compete with large foreign rivals. "We lack biotechnology giants such as Monsanto. On the other hand, that is because we have not commercialized many GM crops," Wang said. "If we do not boldly push ahead with our GM technologies, we will never have our own Monsanto or Syngenta."

Business Daily Update via AgbioView (AgBioWorld)

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