Green light for plan to boost GM crops

Tag : rice crops


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A plan aimed at cultivating high-yield and pest-resistantgenetically modified, or GM, crops for the country to achieveagricultural sustainability has been approved, said authorities.
The State Council announced on its Web site on Wednesday theapproval of the plan, one of 16 key State plans marked by thecentral government to achieve breakthroughs in their respectivefields between 2006 and 2020.
The move comes amid mounting challenges to feed 1.3 billion peopleagainst the shrinking arable land and water shortage.
At a meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, Chinese leaders saidthe plan was of "strategic significance" in the country's drive tomake its agricultural sector more efficient, the statement said.
"Departments must fully understand the importance and urgency ofthis significant project, further improve the program and waste notime to implement it," the statement said.
The statement gave no details on which crops should be developed.
Experts have said that the approval of the plan clearly showed thatthe country was attaching more importance to the development oftransgenic species.
It also signaled the development of GM crops as a national strategydespite an array of ministerial-level rules covering the area,Huang Dejun, general manager and chief analyst with the BeijingOrient Agribusiness Consultant Co Ltd, told China Daily.
Still, while China has become a major producer of GM cotton andvegetables such as peppers and tomatoes, it has to be "cautious" inpursuing a large-scale production of GM rice, Huang said.
"As rice is a major grain for China and no country in the worldapplies transgenic technology to its major grains, it should becautious in developing transgenic rice," Huang said, adding thatthe country should keep up its research in the field and ready areserve of the transgenic rice species.
"China has made major breakthroughs in research on transgenic rice,with potential for commercialization," Huang said.
Xue Dayuan, professor in transgenic technology with the NanjingInstitute of Environmental Science under the Ministry ofEnvironmental Protection, said that the new program will cost 20billion yuan, or $2.92 billion, with 10 billion yuan funded by thecentral budget and the rest from other channels.
"Some 20 percent of the total input will be used for the safetyinspection of new species and infrastructure construction," Xuetold China Business News.
Similarly, the official Catalogue of Industries for Guiding ForeignInvestment revised last December made it mandatory that the Chineseside of a joint venture in the field should dominate the companyproducing new agriculture seeds.
The catalogue bans foreign investment in the development of GMcrops in China.
The State Council last week also approved a mid- and long-termgrain security plan that aims for the country to be 95 percentself-sufficient in grain over the next 12 years.
The plan set a goal of achieving annual grain output above 500million tons by 2010, and increasing production to more than 540million tons a year by 2020.
"Given the shortage in natural resources like arable land andwater, as well as the increase in population, transgenic technologyis vital to the country's agriculture output and national grainsecurity," Huang said.

Questions:
1. China must be careful in producing what GM grain?
2. How much will the new program for cultivating GM crops cost?
3. By what year does the State Council hope to be 95 percentself-sufficient in grain?
Answers:
1. Rice.
2. 20 billion yuan.
3. 2020