The planting of genetically modified (GM) crops is an issue that deserves discussion, because there are good arguments both for and against. Today, however, this has become a global trend, with GM crops being planted over large areas in a growing number of regions.
Taiwan is highly dependent on advanced science to develop its biotechnology, and is also engaged in free trade under the WTO framework. It has imported GM corn and soybeans for many years, and most Taiwanese have long been consuming these products. That means we cannot ignore this issue, and it is a good thing for all parties concerned if it can be discussed rationally.
The commercialization of any product requires effective governmental management and monitoring to benefit the national economy as well as consumer and environmental safety. Just as is the case with many pharmaceutical and industrial products, GM crops require government control to avoid negative consequences.
The extremely high cost of agricultural production in Taiwan makes it even more urgent to use GM technologies to reduce costs. It has been shown in other countries that GM crops resistant to disease and insects can halve farmers’ insecticide costs and increase the yield on well-developed crops by 30 percent or more. By reducing the need for hazardous insecticides, the overall economic benefit of GM crops would be much higher than the cost of their development. This is why 93 percent of US farmers are willing to grow GM crops.
As a result of longstanding policy restrictions, Taiwan has failed to actively research and develop GM crops for food and animal feed that are resistant to disease and insects and can endure stressful environments while reducing fertilizer use. Local farmers are planting non-GM corn and soybeans, which require large amounts of insecticide and fertilizer. Production costs are thus much higher, making local products more expensive than their imported GM counterparts. As a result, Taiwan relies on imports to a large extent.
Genetic engineering can also generate products for medical and industrial purposes. They do not need large planting areas, can grow in isolated areas and create high added value. This would enable Taiwan to create a niche for sustainable agricultural management.
Evaluations by local agricultural economists show that the market value of just one GM rice variety that produces an enzyme, phytase — which is beneficial to human and animal nutrition as well as the environment — is close to the value of Taiwan’s total rice exports. There is a niche for this one product, and there are several other products that can be readily developed.
Both domestic and international research shows that for self-pollinated GM crops such as paddy rice, pollination can be effectively blocked by a 2m hedge or an open space of between 30m and 40m. That means management is not more difficult than the management of factories producing pharmaceuticals or toxic materials.
There are public doubts about the sources of genes used in GM crops. Most modified genes now come from plants or microbes that have already been used in agriculture. The insect-resistant Bacillus thuringiensis gene, for example, is widely used in organic farming. Also, the salt, drought and cold-resistant genes of paddy rice actually come from the rice itself. Such genes and products can safely and quickly decompose in the human gastrointestinal tract, because the focus of scientists’ development of GM crops is to maintain human health and the environment.
Agricultural products accounted for 12.8 percent of the nation’s total exports in 1991, but that figure had declined to 1.6 percent last year. Of the 12.8 percent, crops made up only 30 percent. Thus, the market value of agricultural products is becoming increasingly insignificant. The development of agricultural technology remains stagnant in Taiwan and lacks international competitiveness, while the excessive use of insecticides threatens people’s health and the environment.
The US is the biggest exporter of agricultural products to Taiwan and US products now account for one-third of the nation’s agricultural product imports. However, even the US has started to plant GM crops on a large scale. From the Department of Health’s recent listing of GM rice and papayas as items to be examined, we know that more GM products are likely to be imported.
Local agriculture is facing difficulties such as high labor costs, and the market value of uncompetitive traditional agricultural products is also low. Where is Taiwan’s future if we import large volumes of GM crops while, irrationally, limiting domestic research and development of GM technologies? Shouldn’t all these questions be discussed in a rational manner?
Tuan-hua David Ho is an academician of Academia Sinica and former director-general of the National Science and Technology Program on Agriculture Biotechnology.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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