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China has approved its first strain of genetically modified rice for commercial production, two scientists involved in the approval process have revealed, potentially easing the way for other major producers to adopt the controversial technology.
The approval of the locally-developed rice, as well as China's first GMO corn, shifts the global balance of power in food trade and could prompt other countries to follow suit, experts said.
India and Iran were also developing GM rice and the Philippines could approve Vitamin A-enriched GM Golden Rice by late 2011 or early 2012.
The advent of commercial GMO production in China could affect global prices for rice, which rocketed in early 2008, sparking fears that the bedrock of Arabic and Asian cuisine might be in short supply.
"This news signals that there will be no fear of food shortage as we can produce as much as we want and China itself will not have to import any more," said Kiattisak Kanlayasirivat of Thailand's Novel Agritrade Co Ltd. "Prices of white rice would get back to $200-$300 per tonne again and supply should rise significantly," he said.
Benchmark 100 per cent B grade white rice in Thailand, the world's top exporter and supplier of almost all of China's imports, was quoted at $565 per tonne this week.
The move will also enable China, the world's top producer and consumer of rice, to grow more of its staple food amid shrinking land and water resources. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture's Biosafety Committee has issued biosafety certificates to pest-resistant Bt rice and large-scale production is set to start in two to three years.
But Greenpeace called the move a 'dangerous genetic experiment'.
China, which wants to raise grain production eight per cent to 540 million tonnes a year by 2020, has splashed out on GMO research, with $3.5 billion going on rice, corn and wheat.
The phytase corn was also locally developed by China's Academy of Agricultural Science and Nasdaq-listed Origin Agritech Ltd, which has seen its share price double since shareholders were notified of the approval on Saturday.
Phytase corn will help pigs digest more phosphorus, enhancing growth and reducing pollution from animal waste and fertiliser runoff.
The rice and corn strains are China's first GMO grains approved for commercial production, although it already permits GMO papaya, cotton and tomatoes.
The strains still need to undergo registration and production trials before commercial production can begin in restricted areas, which may take a couple of years, the scientists said.
