USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    China
    Home / China / Society

    GM influx a dilemma for consumers, farmers

    Xinhua | Updated: 2013-06-19 21:35

    HARBIN, - Liu You, a farmer in Keshan County of northeast China's Heilongjiang province, stopped planting soybeans last year, due to the crop's low yield and economic return.

    He grows corn instead, which yields much more than soybean and brings more income. "The price of soybeans has kept almost unchanged while the prices of corn and rice have been rising in recent years," says Liu.

    In Keshan County, the plantation area of soybeans nearly halved from 2007 to 2012, showing farmers have less interest in planting the crop, a trend that is playing out in many other rural areas.

    The root for the decisions taken by Liu and his peers can be found in China's rising imports of genetically modified (GM) soybeans. By virtue of the modifications, GM soybeans are more economical to produce than their conventionally-farmed equivalents. With large-scale production of GM crops not yet approved in China, domestic farmers of soybean are being priced out of the market as the country proves happy to look to imports for this most quintessential of Chinese foodstuffs.

    However, this is far from the only troubling aspect of imported GM food. GM remains controversial over doubts as to its safety. As it flows into China, the country is having to face up to such questions.

    Last week, China's Ministry of Agriculture announced the approval of three varieties of GM soybeans to be imported as processing materials.

    The news triggered fresh domestic concerns about safety, although there has been large-scale commercial plantation of GM crops for years in the United States and many other countries.

    China began to import GM soybeans in 1997 to meet surging domestic demand, according to Peng Yufa, a senior member of the country's GM crop bio-safety committee and a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

    Last year, China imported 58.38 million tonnes of soybeans while the country's own soybean production was about 13 million tonnes, official statistics showed.

    For Chinese farmers, the plantation of corn per mu, a Chinese measurement which equals about 667 square meters, can earn them about 300 to 400 yuan (about $48 to $65) more in revenue than that of soybeans on average.

    This has prompted more farmers to stop planting soybeans. In Heilongjiang, a major soybean producer in China, the area used for plantations of this legume reduced to about 40 million mu last year from about 70 million mu in 2009.

    Although edible soybean oil made from GM produce is common in Chinese supermarkets, most citizens worry about its safety despite relatively lower prices than equivalents such as peanut oil.

    "When I buy edible oil, I will make sure whether they have GM marks. After all, there is no final conclusion as to the safety of GM products," says a lady surnamed Zheng in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province.

    Results of an online survey conducted by Chinese news portal Sina.com showed on Wednesday that about 85 percent of the 30,000 voting netizens said they would not buy GM products and 78 percent believed GM is harmful to people's health.

    To woo consumers, some companies in Heilongjiang have tried to highlight their non-GM soybeans. For example, the Heilongjiang Jiusan Non-GM Soybean Trade Center was set up last September.

    "The key is to allow and encourage Chinese scientists to catch up with others and come up with quality products, including safe GM products. Only in this way can we change the status quo of China's soybean products," says Rao Yi, dean of the School of Life Sciences at Peking University.

    Editor's picks
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
     
    精品人妻无码专区中文字幕| 久久亚洲AV无码西西人体| 四虎成人精品国产永久免费无码 | 少妇无码一区二区三区| 波多野结衣在线aⅴ中文字幕不卡| 国产精品无码A∨精品影院| 中文字幕无码高清晰 | 少妇精品无码一区二区三区 | 日本无码WWW在线视频观看| 亚洲精品人成无码中文毛片| 无码成A毛片免费| 少妇无码AV无码一区| 亚洲日本中文字幕区| 永久免费无码网站在线观看个| 狠狠噜天天噜日日噜无码| 国产aⅴ无码专区亚洲av麻豆| 日韩欧美中文在线| 久久受www免费人成_看片中文| HEYZO无码综合国产精品| 亚洲AV日韩AV永久无码绿巨人| 亚洲国产午夜中文字幕精品黄网站 | AV无码久久久久不卡蜜桃| 无码国产69精品久久久久网站| 中文字幕丰满伦子无码| 无码国产精品一区二区免费虚拟VR| 日韩中文字幕在线视频| 中文字幕无码精品三级在线电影| 精品久久久久久无码免费| 99久久无码一区人妻| 亚洲综合无码一区二区| 99久久人妻无码精品系列蜜桃| 国产AV无码专区亚洲AV男同| 人妻丰满熟妇AV无码片| 久久无码人妻一区二区三区午夜| 亚洲av无码一区二区三区不卡| 亚洲情XO亚洲色XO无码| 亚洲AV永久无码精品成人| 亚洲AV永久青草无码精品| 色欲A∨无码蜜臀AV免费播| 精品视频无码一区二区三区| 国产麻豆天美果冻无码视频|