GM soybean imports hurting local farmers
Source: Xinhua |
June 21, 2013, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
LIU You, a farmer in Keshan County in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, stopped planting soybeans last year because of the crop's low yield and poor economic return.
He grows corn instead, which yields much more than soybean and brings more income. "The price of soybeans has remained 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 with farmers showing less interest in planting the crop - a trend that is playing out in many other rural areas.
The major reasons for Liu and others to reject soybeans 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 soybean farmers are being priced out of the market as the country seems 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 of its safety. As it flows into China, the country is having to face up to such questions.
Last week, China's Agriculture Ministry 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 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 tons of soybeans while the country's own soybean production was about 13 million tons, 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 yuan (US$49) to 400 yuan more in revenue than that of soybeans on average.
This has prompted them to stop planting soybeans. In Heilongjiang, a major soybean producer in China, the area used for plantations has reduced to about 40 million mu last year from about 70 million mu in 2009.
He grows corn instead, which yields much more than soybean and brings more income. "The price of soybeans has remained 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 with farmers showing less interest in planting the crop - a trend that is playing out in many other rural areas.
The major reasons for Liu and others to reject soybeans 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 soybean farmers are being priced out of the market as the country seems 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 of its safety. As it flows into China, the country is having to face up to such questions.
Last week, China's Agriculture Ministry 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 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 tons of soybeans while the country's own soybean production was about 13 million tons, 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 yuan (US$49) to 400 yuan more in revenue than that of soybeans on average.
This has prompted them to stop planting soybeans. In Heilongjiang, a major soybean producer in China, the area used for plantations has reduced to about 40 million mu last year from about 70 million mu in 2009.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
