Hubei farms said to plant GM rice
By Li Xinran |
April 2, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FARMERS in the central China province of Hubei have been planting genetically modified rice on a broad basis without government approval and despite the public's worries over the altered grains, a magazine has reported.
Dong Kejiang, a farmer in a village in the provincial capital Wuhan's Jiangxia District, told China Newsweek magazine that the planting of transgenic rice in his village started three years ago.
Some villages nearby even began the planting in 2004, Dong added.
Dong said it's become hard to find natural rice in the area nowadays.
Ironically, few farmers ate the transgenic rice themselves but sold it to distributors or fed it to chickens because "even insects don't touch the rice," the magazine quoted a farmer as saying.
Chinese law requires licenses for planting and doing business in transgenic seeds, according a Ministry of Agriculture official in charge of management of transgenic organisms and biosafety.
Last August, the ministry approved safety certificates for planting two types of genetically modified rice for research purposes.
"However, the certificates are not equal to the permission for commercialization," the official said.
More and more farmers chose the transgenic rice to avoid surging costs of pesticides, chemical fertilizer and buffaloes, said Wei Wu, an agricultural technician in Wuhan's Wujieli Town.
Many of them were introduced to transgenic seeds by seed companies, who said the seeds were insect-proof but made no mention of genetic modifications, said Dong.
The farmers thought the seeds were a new type promoted by the government and had no idea it was illegal, said Dong.
According to a Greenpeace investigation, transgenic rice was widely planted in Hubei's Xiaogan, Xianning and Jiangxia areas.
At least 950 to 1,200 tons of transgenic rice were put on shelves in 2004, and 11,750 to 14,500 tons in 2005, Greenpeace said.
"Some scientists had their own seed companies and sold the products they developed," said Cai Hongwei, a professor at China Agricultural University.
Dong Kejiang, a farmer in a village in the provincial capital Wuhan's Jiangxia District, told China Newsweek magazine that the planting of transgenic rice in his village started three years ago.
Some villages nearby even began the planting in 2004, Dong added.
Dong said it's become hard to find natural rice in the area nowadays.
Ironically, few farmers ate the transgenic rice themselves but sold it to distributors or fed it to chickens because "even insects don't touch the rice," the magazine quoted a farmer as saying.
Chinese law requires licenses for planting and doing business in transgenic seeds, according a Ministry of Agriculture official in charge of management of transgenic organisms and biosafety.
Last August, the ministry approved safety certificates for planting two types of genetically modified rice for research purposes.
"However, the certificates are not equal to the permission for commercialization," the official said.
More and more farmers chose the transgenic rice to avoid surging costs of pesticides, chemical fertilizer and buffaloes, said Wei Wu, an agricultural technician in Wuhan's Wujieli Town.
Many of them were introduced to transgenic seeds by seed companies, who said the seeds were insect-proof but made no mention of genetic modifications, said Dong.
The farmers thought the seeds were a new type promoted by the government and had no idea it was illegal, said Dong.
According to a Greenpeace investigation, transgenic rice was widely planted in Hubei's Xiaogan, Xianning and Jiangxia areas.
At least 950 to 1,200 tons of transgenic rice were put on shelves in 2004, and 11,750 to 14,500 tons in 2005, Greenpeace said.
"Some scientists had their own seed companies and sold the products they developed," said Cai Hongwei, a professor at China Agricultural University.
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