The Chinese government is not banning the use of genetically modified seeds, but has been slow to green-light the technology and scale it up.
Seed companies in China are again disappointed.
At the annual China Seed Congress 2023 in Hainan, an opinion was voiced: this year there is no hope that extensive plantations with GMO corn will be deployed.
For this dream to become a reality, we will have to wait until at least next year. It cannot be ruled out that the period will be much longer.
However, the number of pilot projects could be increased. This was announced by Ma Dehua, President of one of China’s leading seed companies, Yuan Longping High-Tech Agri.
Why is there no hurry to allow GMO corn?
It is already grown in China, but the volume is small.
For example, about 200 thousand hectares will be sown this year, which is quite a bit for such a huge country as China. The Department of Health has concerns that GMO corn may be harmful to health, such as infertility and cancer.
At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China in recent years has repeatedly denied such rumors. Therefore, there are practically no weighty arguments that would not allow introducing GMO corn everywhere.
Sometimes it seems that the Chinese authorities, not directly abandoning such varieties, sabotage their introduction.
For example, Lu Yuping, general manager of the Longping Biotechnology Laboratory, said that he expected a certificate for his products last year, but received it only at the beginning of this year.
A delay of several months led to the fact that this year there was no time to sow plantations with corn.
Nevertheless, 5 Chinese companies have already received certificates, which means that globally nothing can stop them from promoting their seeds to the market.
By the way, foreign companies are prohibited from supplying seeds to China, so American GMO corn will not appear in China in any case.
What are the advantages of GMO corn?
At present, the volume of corn production in China as a whole does not exceed 50-60% of the American one. But in the United States, GMO corn is actively used.
If the Celestial Empire also switched to it, this would certainly increase productivity.
In particular, it has been proven that such corn is much more resistant to pests than ordinary varieties. It is expected that if the Chinese authorities still fully allow GMO corn, then the share of domestic production of this crop will increase from 5% to 10% in the coming years.
