Not an Ancient Chinese Secret
Some Chinese growers and foreign specialists have been cited as saying they suspect much of the Wuhan region's rice has been genetically modified. But in China, it is “illegal” to sell genetically modified rice on the open market. The environmental group Greenpeace, which had rice in the Wuhan area tested by an independent laboratory in Germany, stated the results show that some of the rice was altered with a gene that creates resistance to pests. Although experiments with gene-altered rice are under way in most rice-producing countries, including the U.S.A., no country produces it for commercial sale. Cultivation and consumption have been tempered by criticism over the potential health or environmental consequences. Although no such effects have been proved, the opposition has worried regulators, leading them to be cautious in approving gene-altered rice. It also has prompted reluctance among growers around the world.
Yet, in several small villages around Wuhan, in Hubei province, a large
rice-growing region in central China, genetically engineered rice appears to be for sale, even by government officials who are supposed to be enforcing a ban on its sale until it is approved for commercialization. Chinese officials hope the commercialization of genetically engineered rice in China, the largest producer and consumer of rice, will be a momentous global event, because rice is the world's largest and most important food staple. If the technology works, genetically engineered rice could offer higher yields.
Gerard Barry, a scientist at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, was cited as saying there was virtually no evidence that genetically modified crops were harmful to humans and that the gene used in China's biotech rice could be similar to the gene in what is called B.t. corn or cotton. At a government-owned seed market south of Wuhan, a sales agent said the "anti-pest rice" was no longer available and in any case, it was not legal to sell it, but minutes later, after some negotiation, the government sales officer agreed to sell a bag of "anti-bug rice" for a premium price. His assistant then pulled a bag from under a shelf and placed it in a dark bag. The bag of seed has the same label that Greenpeace identified as containing a variety of genetically engineered rice. The label shows a lightning bolt striking a bug. The package does not identify the seeds as genetically modified rice but only as "anti-pest" rice. Sze Pang Cheung, a Greenpeace official who helped uncover the sales in Hubei and estimates that more than 1,000 tons of genetically engineered rice are on the local market, was quoted as saying, "This is irresponsible and dangerous. The government needs to act. If they cannot control G.E. rice even at the experimental stage, how are they going to control large-scale commercialization?" Still, just a day after Greenpeace announced its findings, seed market officials in Hubei talked openly about the popularity of the "anti-pest rice" and admitted selling it at a premium price, saying they had recently run out of stock. (New York Times, 4/16/05).
