Northeast China province seeks protection from GM crops

BEIJING - Northeast Heilongjiang province, China’s principal producer of non-genetically-modified soybeans, is calling for a law to set up a special zone where the planting and processing of GM plants is prohibited. Veteran agriculture specialists say the province has seen its planting acreage downsized to a tipping point of 1.4 million hectares, a 66% decrease in five years following the influx of much cheaper GM imports.

Deputies to China’s top legislature hope that such a law would preserve ecological diversity, benefit farmers who plant non-GM soybeans and avoid “possible contamination” of the soybean crop by GM plants. The size of the proposed special zone would restore the province’s soybean growing acreage to its 2010 level of 4.3 million hectares, according to national lawmaker Tan Zhijuan.

Nationwide, China imported 81.7 million tons of soybeans – mostly GM – last year, which meant more than 80% of its soybean consumption was met by imports.  www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).