China Biotech on the Rise
20 July 2011 Editor’s note: CCM is dedicated to market research in China, the Asia-Pacific Rim and global markets. Through a special relationship with FCI, CCM periodically provides market updates and insights into the crop protection market in China and surrounding regions. Visit www.farmchemicalsinternational.com to see other contributions from CCM, including an expanded column on biotechnology, biological pesticides and other trends that influence the crop protection industry.
China accounts for 22% of the global population but has only 10% of the world’s farmland, making it easy to understand why the country is urgently looking for new ways to use every inch of the arable land. Biotech crop breeding is a good place to start.
Biotech crop breeding is not a new concept in China, which has been experimenting with the technology since implementing the Agriculture Biosafety Regulation in 1996. Once it was granted a Biosafety license, China bred more than 20 hybrid combinations, achieving outstanding results with insect-resistant rice.
This biotech version has excellent yields and better quality than the non-GM (genetically modified) rice. “If biotech rice area accounted for half of the total rice area in China, $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion of benefits could be created each year, while pesticide pollution and residue could be remarkably reduced,” said Dr. Dafang Huang, a researcher from Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, during CCPS (China Crop Protection Summit) 2011, held by CCM International Ltd. in China every March.
The insect-resistant biotech rice reduces pesticide volume used in rice breeding by 80% and offers high productivity and environmental protection, which meets present demands and the goals of sustainable development.
Faced with the challenges of water shortage and pollution, natural disasters and a shrinking supply of arable land, biotech crop breeding will become an irreversible trend.
One out of nine Chinese farmers is struggling to survive on an income below the international poverty line, so Chinese officials have set a goal to create a million new biotech jobs by 2015.
It is not an empty promise. State Councilor Liu Yandong said in June at the 2011 International Conference for Bio-Economy that biotech would be a pillar industry for China in the coming five years, and the government has set aside $308 billion to fund the initiative.
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