A decision by Thailand, one of Asia's prime agricultural producers, to allow open-field trials of genetically modified crops marks another milestone for the controversial products in the region, as governments ignore activists' concerns, industry analysts said yesterday.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced last weekend he had given the nod to the trials. Several other countries were expected to follow suit, while the Philippines and China already have huge plantations producing crops such as corn, as well as cotton.
The US is the world's biggest producer of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) but has faced an uphill battle in persuading other parts of the world -- from Europe to Africa and the Middle East -- to accept the products.
But industry analysts, and even green groups which oppose their introduction, say the tide is turning in favor of the new products.
Japan approved field-tests of the so-called "super-crops" more than 15 years ago but has since been cautious and has yet to approve their cultivation.
However Australia and New Zealand have recently relaxed their opposition and signalled a readiness to consider GMO tests.
But the big change comes with the change in attitude among developing countries which need to find easy ways to feed their growing populations.
"Generally Asia is becoming far more accepting of GMOs because many countries are developing and have growing populations that they can't feed," said Cheng Luk-ki, scientific research and conservation head of Hong Kong-based Green Power. "They need to find enough food to feed their people and are willing to accept anything that promises that."
Genetically modified crops have their genetic makeup engineered by scientists to boost beneficial characteristics, such as nutritional value, and remove detrimental ones, such as susceptibility to pests.
They come with the promise of bumper harvests and higher yields, tempting carrots to dangle before impoverished farmers in a region with some 720 million people living below the breadline.
But opponents of GMOs say the crops are dangerous and the way they are marketed will end up ruining many of the farmers who hope to make their living from growing them. GMOs, they say, are "super strains" that could muscle other varieties of plants into extinction.
They also fear the crops have not been fully tested and could pose health problems not yet apparent.
They are also opposed because distribution of GMO seeds is controlled by Western companies who tie growers into contracts they may not be able to honor, thus extending the poverty cycle.
Many rich nations, particularly in Europe where public opinion is largely hostile to GM foods, have fended off the GMO onslaught.
Critics argue that weak regulatory systems in the region are at fault, giving GMO multinationals ample room to operate.
They cite India as an example of what can go wrong when controls are loose: There, thousands of farmers have found themselves in greater debt after the GM cotton seeds US biotechnology company Monsanto said would boost yields failed.
Certainly, not all of Asia is yet persuaded of the value of these products. Taiwan has tight labelling requirements for food containing GMOs as a means of monitoring the products' spread and Pakistan, where controls are very lax, announced this week it was looking into similar legislation.
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