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Biotechnological Responses to Food Security Needs

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Environmental Change and Food Security in China

Part of the book series: Advances in Global Change Research ((AGLO,volume 35))

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Abstract

This chapter begins by explaining the development of biotechnology, including motivation for China’s aggressive pursuit of it, organization and funding of agricultural biotechnology research, role of the private sector, and importation of GMOs (the case of soybeans). It features the “success story” of Bt cotton, narrating its development, initial impacts, and recent problems in production. The chapter discusses other crop and plant species approved for commercialization. It then introduces the special case of genetically-modified rice, including development and testing of Bt rice, and its promise as well as resistance to its commercialization. The next section considers biosafety concerns about GMOs in China. The recent context is global controversy, because of European Union resistance to GMOs and the Cartageña Protocol on Biosafety. In China, the elite is divided on whether to approve commercialization of Bt rice, while the general public is not well informed on the issue. The final substantive section discusses the biosafety regime in China: its origin, structure, and how biosafety currently is being implemented.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Bt is the abbreviation of Bacillus thuringiensis.

  2. 2.

    See, for example, Qifa Zhang, “China: Agricultural Biotechnology Opportunities to Meet the Challenges of Food Production,” in G. J. Persley and M. M. Lantin, eds., Agricultural Biotechnology and the Poor: Proceedings of an International Conference. Washington, DC: Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, 2000, 45–50. Zhang uses the figure 60%, which seems quite high. Population projections of the UN show China reaching its population peak in 2025–30, with an increase of 15–20%.

  3. 3.

    A Ministry of Agriculture report in 1996 indicated that production rates of major grain crops had declined in the previous decade. See: Ministry of Agriculture, Report of Agriculture Development in China (in Chinese). Beijing: China Agricultural Press, 1996.

  4. 4.

    Yuan is a scientist in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Supporters of his work claim that the hybrid he developed “boosted the country’s rice output over the ensuing 25 years by a combined 400 million tons.” See Ying Wang, “Secrets of Hybrid Crops in Focus,” China Daily, October 15, 2007, 3. In 2008, one of Yuan’s colleagues, Qing Xianguo, said the innovation in hybrid rice technology would increase production 20 percent annually. See Jiao Wu, “Hybrid Rice Set to Boost Yield by 20%,” China Daily, July 24, 2008, 3.

  5. 5.

    The Ministry of Agriculture has conducted research and development on highly productive rice species for a decade. Most of the three dozen varieties of super rice are strains for just a single-season harvest. They thrive only in high-yield farmlands where natural conditions are optimal, and not under normal conditions. Further, inadequate auxiliary planting and management expertise limit productive capacity. See Huanxin Zhao, “Higher Yields Sought from the Super Rice,” China Daily, October 7–8, 2006, 7.

  6. 6.

    Zhang, 2000, 45.

  7. 7.

    This factor is mentioned in Valerie Karplus’s 2003 summary of China’s crop biotechnology program. See “Let a Thousand GM Crops Bloom,” International Herald Tribune, October 8, 2003.

  8. 8.

    James Keeley, “Balancing Technological Innovations and Environmental Regulation: An Analysis of Chinese Agricultural Biotechnology Governance,” Environmental Politics, Vol. 15, no. 2 (April 2006), 293–309.

  9. 9.

    Zhang, 2000, 45–6.

  10. 10.

    Zhang, 2000, 46. The 863 program is named for the date Deng Xiaoping introduced it, March 1986; similarly, the 973 program is named for March, 1997, when Ziang Zemin inaugurated it.

  11. 11.

    Shirong Jia and Yufa Peng, “GMO Biosafety Research in China,” Environment and Biosafety Research, Vol. 1 (2002), 5–8.

  12. 12.

    Jikun Huang, Carl Pray, Scott Rozelle and Qingfang Wang, “Plant Biotechnology in China,” Science, Vol. 295, no. 5555 (January 25, 2002), 674–77.

  13. 13.

    Scott Rozelle, Jikun Huang and Keijiro Otsuka, “The Engines of a Viable Agriculture: Advances in Biotechnology, Market Accessibility and Land Rentals in Rural China,” The China Journal, no. 53 (January 2005), 93.

  14. 14.

    Julian Alston, Phil Pardey and J. Roseboom, “Financing Agricultural Research: International Investment Patterns and Policy Perspectives,” World Development, Vol. 26, no. 6 (1998), 1057–72.

  15. 15.

    Personal interview with scientist and specialist in GMO development, Beijing, March 13, 2007.

  16. 16.

    Jiao Wu, “Green Light for Plan to Boost GM Crops,” China Daily, July 11, 2008, 2; also see Shanshan Wang, “More Cash for Biotech Research,” China Daily, April 5–6, 2008, 3.

  17. 17.

    Personal interview with Monsanto corporate officer, Beijing, May 18, 2005.

  18. 18.

    Personal communication from a food policy specialist, January 24, 2008.

  19. 19.

    Personal interview with Syngenta corporate officer, Beijing, May 25, 2005.

  20. 20.

    Personal interview with food scientist, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, May 21, 2007.

  21. 21.

    Tianfu Han and Wensheng Hou, “Research Progress and Application Potential of Transgenic Soybeans in China,” in Dayuan Xue, ed., Risks and Regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms (in Chinese). Beijing: China Environmental Science Press, 2005, 114.

  22. 22.

    Personal interview with NGO representative, Beijing, May 22, 2007.

  23. 23.

    Personal interview with multinational corporation executive, Beijing, May 15, 2005.

  24. 24.

    Chaoyong Wang and Yan Liu, “Monitoring of Gene Flow from Transgenic Glyphosate-resistant Soybean to Wild Soybean,” in Dayuan Xue, Environmental Impacts and Safety Regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms (in Chinese). Beijing: China Environmental Science Press, 2006, 157–61. See also Youfu Xia and Li Li, “On Comprehensive Impacts of GM Soy Importing on Biosafety in China,” in Xue, 2006, 68–79.

  25. 25.

    Carl E. Pray, Bharat Ramaswami, Jikun Huang, Ruifa Hu, Prajakta Bengali, and Huazhu Zhang, “Costs and Enforcement of Biosafety Regulations in India and China,” International Journal of Technology and Globalisation, Vol. 2, nos. 1/2 (2006), 148.

  26. 26.

    Ibid.

  27. 27.

    Jia and Peng, 2002, 5.

  28. 28.

    Personal interview with Monsanto corporate official, Beijing, May 25, 2007.

  29. 29.

    Personal communication, Chinese agricultural scientist, January 24, 2008.

  30. 30.

    Jikun Huang, Ruifa Hu, Hans van Meijl and Frank van Tongeren, “Biotechnology Boosts to Crop Productivity in China: Trade and Welfare Implications,” Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 75 (2004), 27–54. See also, Yuejing Su, Ruifa Hu, Jikun Huang, and Cunhui Fan, “The Determinants of Farmer Bt-Cotton Technology Adoption Behavior in China,” Cotton Science (in Chinese), Vol. 16, no. 5 (2004), 259–64.

  31. 31.

    Jikun Huang, Ruifa Hu, Carl Pray, Fangbin Qiao, Scott Rozelle, “Biotechnology as an Alternative to Chemical Pesticides: A Case Study of Bt Cotton in China,” Agricultural Economics, Vol. 29 (2003), 55–67.

  32. 32.

    Personal interview with NGO representative, Beijing, May 22, 2007.

  33. 33.

    Huang et al., 2003, 1079.

  34. 34.

    Kym Anderson and Shunli Yao, “China, GMOs and World Trade in Agricultural and Textile Products,” Pacific Economic Review, Vol. 8, no. 2 (2003), 167–68.

  35. 35.

    Shujuan Lin, “Scientists Report Pest-Resistant Crop,” China Daily, September 19, 2008, 3.

  36. 36.

    Personal interview with NGO representative, Beijing, May 22, 2007. See also, Paul Thiers, “Book Review: Biotech Boosterism and Chinese Realities,” China Development Brief, June 1, 2004, 2.

  37. 37.

    K. M. Wu, “Impacts of Bt Cotton on Status of Insect Pests and Resistance Risk of Cotton Bollworms in China.” Conference on Resistance Management for Bt-Crops in China: Economic and Biological Considerations. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State University, April 2002.

  38. 38.

    Pray et al., 2006, 153. Also, personal interview with agricultural policy analyst, CAS, Beijing, May 29, 2007.

  39. 39.

    Personal interview with entymologist, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, March 27, 2007.

  40. 40.

    Jia and Peng, 2002, 5.

  41. 41.

    Ibid., 5–6

  42. 42.

    Personal interview with biotechnology research institute professor, Beijing, May 30, 2007.

  43. 43.

    Personal interview with plant pathology research professor, Beijing, May 18, 2007.

  44. 44.

    Pray et al., 2006, 140.

  45. 45.

    Ibid., 140–41.

  46. 46.

    Huang et al., 2003, 1080–81.

  47. 47.

    Heping Jia, “China Ramps Up Efforts to Commercialize GM Rice,” Nature Biotechnology, Vol. 22, no. 6 (June 2004), 642.

  48. 48.

    Personal interview with plant scientist, CAAS, Beijing, May 19, 2007.

  49. 49.

    Jin Fu, “Crop Caution,” China Daily, May 19, 2008, 12. These figures do not account for variation in yields because of insect pests and plant diseases.

  50. 50.

    Hong Chen, “New Rice Hybrid Grows on Salty Lands,” China Daily, October 14, 2008, 4.

  51. 51.

    Jing Li, “Scientists Seek Stronger Crops,” China Daily, February 19, 2009, 4.

  52. 52.

     China Development Brief, “Greenpeace Targets Retail Giant in Fight against GM Rice.” August 10, 2005. An NGO representative told the authors that Greenpeace representatives informed the local agriculture department of the Ministry of Agriculture, which discovered the Bt rice in stores. Local government officials proceeded to fine the sellers and destroyed some rice fields in which Bt rice was growing. Personal interview, Beijing, March 18, 2007. See also, David Barboza, “China’s Problem with ‘Anti-Pest’ Rice,” New York Times, April 16, 2005, A14.

  53. 53.

    Ibid.

  54. 54.

    Personal interview with SEPA official, Beijing, May 27, 2007.

  55. 55.

    Greenpeace, “Rice at Risk,” Briefing paper, April 2005, 2.

  56. 56.

    The Institute of Science in Society, “Genetically Engineered Rice Experiments in China.” Retrieved October 10, 2006 from http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/ricechina120204.cfm

  57. 57.

    Personal interview with biotechnology research professor, Beijing, May 30, 2007.

  58. 58.

    See Jikun Huang, Ruifa Hu, Scott Rozelle, and Carl Pray, “Insect-Resistant GM Rice in Farmers’ Fields: Assessing Productivity and Health Effects in China,” Science, Vol. 308 (April 29, 2005), 688–90, and responses in “Debate Over a GM Rice Trial in China,” Science, Vol. 310 (October 14, 2005), 231–33.

  59. 59.

    Personal interview with SEPA official, Beijing, May 27, 2007.

  60. 60.

    Greenpeace, 2005, 2–3.

  61. 61.

    Ibid, 3.

  62. 62.

    Baorong Lu and Jun Rong, “On Exotic Gene Escape of Transgenic Rice and Environmental Safety,” in Dayuan Xue, Environmental Impacts and Safety Regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms (in Chinese). Beijing: China Environmental Science Press, 101–09; and Minsheng You, Sheng Lin, and Dingcheng Huang, “Risk Assessment of Transgenic Rice,” ibid., 122–38.

  63. 63.

    See William Lin, Agapi Somwaru, Francis Tuan, Jikun Huang, and Junfei Bai, “Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Biotech Foods in China: A Contingent Valuation Approach,” AgBioForum, Vol. 9, no. 3 (2006), 166–79.

  64. 64.

    See Lei Xiong, “Farmers’ Fear, Food Future Genetically Modified,” China Daily, March 1, 2007, 12.

  65. 65.

    Weitao Li, “Farmers Cotton on to Biotech Industry,” China Daily, September 11, 2007, 15.

  66. 66.

    Greenpeace, 2005, 4–5.

  67. 67.

    This discussion is based on interviews the authors conducted in China in 2006–09.

  68. 68.

    See Li Deng, “China Cautions about GM Rice” (in Chinese), 21 st Century Economic News, July 10, 2008.

  69. 69.

    Jiao Wu, “Transgenic Rice Seeds Still Await Go-ahead,” China Daily, January 26–27, 2008, 1.

  70. 70.

    See Hui Liu, Shuxiong Bai, Zhenying Wang, and Kanglai He, “Effects of Transgenic Corn Resistant to Insect Pests on Diversity of Arthropods,” in Dayuan Xue, 2006, 191–202.

  71. 71.

    Rozelle et al., 2005, 94.

  72. 72.

    Lei Xiong, 2007, 12.

  73. 73.

    Pray et al., 2006, 144–45.

  74. 74.

    Yimin Ding and Jeffrey Mervis, “China Takes a Bumpy Road From the Lab to the Field,” Science, Vol. 298, no 5602 (December 2002), 2317–19.

  75. 75.

    Jikun Huang and Scott Rozelle, “Trade Reform: The WTO and China’s Food Economy in the Twenty-First Century,” Pacific Economic Review, Vol. 8, no. 2 (2003), 146.

  76. 76.

    Jikun Huang, Deliang Zhang, Jun Yang, Scott Rozelle, and Nicholas Kalaitzandonakes, “Will the Biosafety Protocol Hinder or Protect the Developing World: Learning from China’s Experience,” Food Policy, Vol. 33 (2008), 1–12. For a broader view of the impact of globalization on agricultural biotechnology, see Peter Newell, “Globalization and the Governance of Biodiversity,” Global Environmental Politics, Vol. 3, no. 2 (May 2003), 56–71.

  77. 77.

    Quoted in Jing Li, “World Biosafety Standard Adopted,” China Daily, May 20, 2005, 5.

  78. 78.

    Personal interview with agricultural policy analyst, Beijing, May 27, 2007.

  79. 79.

    Ibid.

  80. 80.

    Jikun Huang, Huanguang Qiu, Junfei Bai and Carl Pray, “Awareness, Acceptance of and Willingness to Buy Genetically Modified Foods in Urban China,” Appetite, Vol. 46 (2006), 147–48. See also: William Lin, Agapi Somwaru, Francis Tuan, Jikun Huang, and Junfei Bai, “Consumer Attitudes Toward Biotech Foods in China,” Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing, Vol. 18, no. 1/2 (2006), 177–200.

  81. 81.

    Yuqing Wang, “Labeling System for Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs) in China and its Recognition Status in Beijing Market,” in Dayuan Xue, 2006, 244–46.

  82. 82.

    Personal interview with journalism professor, Beijing, May 18, 2007.

  83. 83.

    For a general introduction, see Tianjie Ma, “Wielding the Double-Edged Sword: The Chinese Experience with Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms,” Woodrow Wilson center, China Environmental Forum, 2008.

  84. 84.

    Changyong Wang, Zhidi Yu, and Dehui Wang, “China: Risk Assessment and Risk Management,” IUCN Regional Biodiversity Programme, Asia. Retrieved May 30, 2006 from: http://www.rbp-iucn.lk/biosafety/CouStatus_China.htm

  85. 85.

    Carl E. Pray, Bharat Ramaswami, Jikun Huang, Ruifa Hu, Prajakta Bengali, and Huazhu Zhang, “Costs and Enforcement of Biosafety Regulations in India and China,” Journal of Technology and Globalisation, Vol. 2, nos. 1/2 (2006), 144.

  86. 86.

    Ibid.

  87. 87.

    See Heike Baumuller, Domestic Import Regulations for Genetically Modified Organisms and their Compatibility with WTO Rules: Some Key Issues. Winnipeg, ONT: International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2003.

  88. 88.

    Wang et al., 2006, 2.

  89. 89.

    Peter Newell, Domesticating Global Policy on GMOs: Comparing India and China. Brighton, UK: IDS Working Paper 206, Institute for Development Studies, 2003.

  90. 90.

    Pray et al., 2006, 145.

  91. 91.

    Ibid.

  92. 92.

    Ibid.

  93. 93.

    Ibid. Personal interview with multinational seed company representative, Beijing, May 23, 2005.

  94. 94.

    Pray et al., 2006, 145.

  95. 95.

    Peter Oosterveer, Global Governance of Food Production and Consumption: Issues and Challenges. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007, 137.

  96. 96.

    Pray et al., 2006, 150.

  97. 97.

    Pray et al., 2006, 152–54.

  98. 98.

    Nancy Larson, “Monsanto Sows Seeds of Controversy,” China Daily, July 6, 2009, 4.

  99. 99.

    Personal interview with member of the Biosafety Committee, Beijing, May 28, 2007.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    Jenifer Huang McBeath & Jerry McBeath

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Correspondence to Jenifer Huang McBeath .

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McBeath, J.H., McBeath, J. (2010). Biotechnological Responses to Food Security Needs. In: Environmental Change and Food Security in China. Advances in Global Change Research, vol 35. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9180-3_7

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