The GM rice planted in Hubei Province was planted by local farmers but refused to eat it.

Rice is one of the staple foods of the Chinese people. However, Chinese consumers have been indifferent to the extent to which they know and choose their genetically modified rice for planting and eating. Figure / CFP

Transgenic rice has long been planted in Hubei

The local farmers planted but refused to eat; when the expert dispute was "safe," we may have eaten a lot of genetically modified rice.

A change without gunpowder is taking place on the table of 1.3 billion Chinese people.

On August 17, 2009, the Ministry of Agriculture approved two kinds of security certificates for the production and application of transgenic rice and corn. Although the issuance of safety certificates does not mean commercialization, the commercial cultivation of GM rice has actually been quietly carried out in Hubei and other places to form a certain scale.

Since the application of genetically modified technology in agriculture, there have been many disputes about ecological security, food safety, and human health. In this debate, the agricultural producers and food consumers who are the protagonists have never had the opportunity to speak.

If we are caught in the controversy over whether GM rice is safe, the debate will never end. What really matters in this tangle is whether the right to know and the right to choose from rice-based consumers have been respected.

According to "China News Weekly" report

Six years ago, people planted genetically modified rice.

Wuhan in late March is a good time for spring. There are still a few days that are clear and bright. The farmers who are going to lay down are eager to buy rice seeds. Dong Kejiang, a villager in Dongcun, Jianlou Building, Jiangxia District, stood on the plough of the old water buffalo and smashed a large earthworm litter on the newly turned land.

Dong Kejiang wondered if he was to buy insect-resistant genetically modified rice, or would he buy ordinary rice seeds?

Dong Kejiang hesitated because the current transgenic insect-resistant rice is not legal. But Dong Kejiang and his neighbors are no strangers to this kind of “anti-insect seed” or “seed without drugs”.

"The village has been planting for more than three years. There is always someone who can buy this seed," Dong Kejiang said. The surname Hu Xing from the village of Tang Tucun in Wulijie Town also told reporters: “In 2004, Wulijie began planting (this kind of seed that did not fight drugs).”

On March 2 this year, the head of the Agriculture GMO Safety Management Office of the Ministry of Agriculture, responding to reporters on the advancement of research and application of genetically modified technology, stated that the issuance of GMO safety certificates is not the same as allowing commercial production. "According to the "Regulations on Safety Management of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms," "Seeds Law of the People's Republic of China" and "Regulations for the Examination and Approval of Major Crop Variety," and other laws and regulations, strict regional trials and production trials are conducted first, and certification certificates for species can be obtained only when standards are met; After that, related seed companies must obtain GMP crop seed production licenses and business licenses through rigorous examination before they can conduct seed production and operation.” That is to say, the current practice of selling, planting genetically modified rice and seeds in the market Is not legal.

Flowed to multiple cities in the Pearl River Delta

Around 2005, a kind of genetically modified rice that could be used without drugs and high yield appeared in areas such as Jiangxia, Xiaogan and Xianning in Hubei Province, and the local farmers were very excited. Dong Kejiang told reporters that at first they did not know that it was genetically modified rice seeds.

“People in the seed company say that this kind of insect can resist insects and increase production, and many people use it to try it.” Dong Kejiang said. This Bt transgenic rice, after introducing a special gene into rice, will produce Bt protein, which will cause the rice borer to cause intestinal paralysis and die. It is this special anti-insect function that can reduce the use of pesticides in rice, and thus achieve the purpose of increasing production.

"At first it was a few species, and then it gradually spread. Everyone started rushing to plant species." Many villagers in the land of Dong Kejiang's land have planted this insect-resistant rice.

Farmers planting GM rice are very cautious about eating this kind of rice. The surnamed Hu Peasant in Tang Tucun told reporters that at the time, his three-acre rice was sold to a private rice factory or sold to a grain office. The neighbor’s rice sold for the rest was fed to the chicken. . What the Hu family farmers eat is the two-acre early rice planted by their own family, which is a traditional rice that they left behind.

According to a survey conducted by Greenpeace, "Hubei, Xianning, Jiangxia and other areas in Hubei Province have large-scale genetically modified rice cultivation. At least 950 to 1200 tons of genetically modified rice have already flowed into the market in Hubei in 2004. These transgenic rice have already flown to Guangzhou. , Zhongshan, Shunde, Zhuhai and other cities."

In 2004 and 2005, the sources of seed efflux from GM rice were planted. The evidence points to Huazhong Agricultural University. Wei Wu of the Agricultural Technology Service Center of Wulijie Town in Jiangxia District confirmed to reporters: “The seeds were first started by Huanong, and Huanong was out of stock this year. We have no goods.”

Transgenic rice seeds involve a variety of seed companies

In 2004, Greenpeace conducted four surveys of GM rice cultivation in Hubei and released an investigation report on April 13, 2005. The Hubei Provincial Department of Agriculture immediately eradicated tens of thousands of mu of genetically modified rice that had been planted.

However, since the insect-resistant transgenic rice seeds have always had the functions of saving trouble (less pesticides) and increasing production, they have been sold and planted privately. An GM who asked not to be named told reporters that "not only Hubei, but also large-scale planting of GM rice in Fujian and Jiangxi."