Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
the Field of GM Plants in Asia
Jie Wen* and Ranran Liu
Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural
Sciences, P.R. China
stress resistance and high yields. China has
been investing in a US$3.5 billion research
and development (R&D) initiative on GM
plants (from 2008 to 2020). According to
the Annual Report on Bioindustry in China,
in 2009 over 50 types of GM plants had been
developed; the top ten consisted of cotton,
rice, maize, potato, tomato, wheat, rapeseed,
tobacco, poplar and soybean. Seven types of
GM plants developed by Chinese scientists
have been approved for commercial pro-
duction, including Bt cotton, Bt rice, storage-
tolerant tomato, virus-resistant sweet
pepper, dwarf morning glory, virus-resistant
papaya and phytase maize. More than 60
versions of GM plant have been approved
for i eld trials and release, including major
crops - rice, maize and wheat, as well as
cotton, potato, tomato, soybean, groundnut
and rape (Li
et al.
, 2010; NDRC/CSB, 2010).
Despite large achievements, GM plants in
China only make up a small share of the
world biotechnology market in comparison
with some developed countries. With regard
to quantity, production scale of GM plants
and technology, China still lags behind the
USA.
According to an International Service for the
Acquisition of Agro-biotech Applications
(ISAAA) report (Clive, 2011), in 2011 Asia
grew about 17.7 million hectares (Mha) of
genetically modii ed (GM) crops, with a
3.54-fold increase in 5 years. In China and
India, which together account for more than
one-third of the world's population, over
14 million small farmers benei t from
14.5 Mha of GM crops, the majority being Bt
cotton, which carries a gene that codes for the
Bacillus thuringiensis
(Bt) toxin (see Chapters
3 and 14). h e quantity of GM crop products
imported into the Asian region for processing
into food and animal feed is substantial, and
almost every country imports GM food.
Due to the importance of agriculture to
China and the expected increasing role of
GM plants in agriculture, they have received
much attention and support. It is estimated
that China is developing the largest plant
biotechnology capacity outside of North
America. According to the 'Long and Mid-
term National Development Plan for Science
and Technology (2006-2020)' of China, the
programme will focus on crop research (rice,
wheat, maize and cotton). h e target is to
develop new varieties of GM crops with
traits such as resistance to insect disease,
h e government of India recognized the
importance of biotechnology and set up the
National Biotechnology Board in 1982. h e
successful adoption of Bt cotton made
agricultural biotechnology one of the fastest
