On the evening of July 10, the Shandong listed company Denghai Seed Industry announced that it was suspected of illegal planting of 2,590 mu of genetically modified corn. According to the announcement of Denghai Seed Industry, the company first used the 50 kilograms of genetically modified seeds that had been bred in compliance as the original seeds of conventional inbred lines because of internal management issues, and then expanded and reproduced about 12 tons of parents. Since then, the 12-ton parent was mistakenly planted on the 2,590 acres of land in Gongliu County by its Yili branch.

In China, illegal planting of genetically modified corn has been repeatedly exposed in recent years.

Industry insiders told Sci-tech Daily that the illegal planting and sale of genetically modified corn does exist, but the details need to be investigated and verified in depth.

At present, the corn that is approved for production and planting in China are all non-genetically modified varieties. So, why plant GM corn illegally?

Genetically modified is the true love of farmers

According to industry insiders, the main reason is that farmers like it.

"In recent years, the yield of corn borer and other pests has been seriously damaged, and the quality of storage and transportation of corn has been seriously degraded due to secondary mold contamination of the damaged corn. Farmers have found that genetically modified insect-resistant corn does not have any environmental and food safety issues, which is similar to conventional varieties. Compared, it not only saves labor and medicine, but also increases the yield by 10-30%, and it can sell 4-5 cents more per kilogram of corn due to the reduction of mildew, and it can also charge an extra 40-50 yuan per mu. "National 973 Program Project "The discovery of functional genes for insecticidal and disease prevention of agricultural microorganisms and molecular mechanism research" Huang Dafang, chief scientist and researcher of the Institute of Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told the Science and Technology Daily reporter.

As a result, farmers are extremely enthusiastic about genetically modified corn, and some dealers see the profitability and take risks in violation of the current management regulations.

"However, China has not yet liberalized the production of genetically modified maize. Illegal planting and sales have seriously disrupted the market. The area of ​​conventional varieties that are legally produced and operated by some large and medium-sized seed companies has also been squeezed and nibbled, resulting in a decline in profits and difficult survival. Huang Dafang said.

Huang Dafang believes that this phenomenon also profoundly reflects the powerful power of advanced science and technology, and that safe and effective genetically modified products are becoming popular.

GM safety is inconclusive

In response to many questions on the Internet about whether illegal planting will bring food safety and environmental safety, Wang Dayuan, who was the first head of the Department of Bioengineering of the China Rice Research Institute and the first chief scientist of the Rockefeller Foundation ’s China Rice Bioengineering Project, told the Science and Technology Daily reporter GM is a safety technology, and the safety of GM products evaluated is as safe as non-GM.

A few days ago, the International Agricultural Biotechnology Application Service Organization (ISAAA) published the latest "Global Biotechnology / Genetically Modified Crops Commercialization Development Trend" annual report on its website. The report pointed out that in 2017, 22 years after the commercialization of genetically modified crops, 24 countries planted 189.8 million hectares of genetically modified crops, an increase of 4.7 million hectares (11.6 million acres) from 185.1 million hectares in 2016. It is the 21st year of growth.

In the 21 years of large-scale cultivation of genetically modified crops, there has not been a food safety and environmental safety incident caused by genetically modified crops.

Wang Dayuan said that at the beginning of this year, the authoritative scientific organization International Organization of Toxicology issued a statement on the safety of food and feed for genetically modified crops, confirming the safety of genetically modified crops, and said that every new genetically modified incident passed the regulatory authorities. evaluation of. The statement also mentioned that in 20 years, there is no verifiable evidence that genetically modified crops may have adverse health effects.

This is a conclusion that has been published by the transgenic safety assessment authority and confirmed by each other. In May 2016, the American Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Medical Sciences jointly released a 607-page comprehensive assessment of the safety of GM crops and foods (human health, environmental safety, etc.) and their social and economic impact , And reports on the development of regulations and future development. The report concluded that genetically modified foods have no evidence of unsafe health.

Promoting planting is the most effective way

What should we do to fundamentally eliminate the illegal planting of genetically modified corn?

Under the premise that the safety of genetically modified crops and food has been finalized, the demand for widespread cultivation of genetically modified corn has become stronger. In fact, China has been planting genetically modified cotton on a large scale for more than 20 years, and has also imported genetically modified soybeans for more than 20 years.

According to the 2017 grain import and export data released by the General Administration of Customs, China's net imports of soybeans in 2017 were 95.42 million tons, about 7.3 times of China's soybean production last year. Wang Dayuan said that China's imports of soybeans are mainly genetically modified soybeans. Worldwide, more than 700 million acres of land in the United States, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay are producing genetically modified soybeans for China.

According to industry sources, Chinese scientists have successfully bred a number of genetically modified insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant corn lines with independent intellectual property rights, which can ensure safety and achieve international advanced levels. The average insecticidal effect is up to 96%, and the amount of pesticides reduced by 60% Compared with the non-GMO control corn, the yield is increased by more than 10%, and the pollution of aflatoxin and other toxins in food feed is significantly reduced, which can meet the major needs of green agricultural development.

"If you can take the time to promote the application of genetically modified corn, it is expected to be welcomed by the entire industry chain of farmers, seed production and sales enterprises, storage and processing enterprises. Actively promoting the industrialization of genetically modified corn can not only replace illegality with law, purify the domestic corn market, but also It is conducive to gaining the initiative in international trade competition, and more importantly, it can break through the current bottleneck of domestic biotechnology breeding development, promote the transformation and upgrading of the seed industry and stimulate a new round of major innovations in agricultural science and technology. "Huang Dafang said.