Plant biotechnology in China: public investments and impacts on farmers

This article provides an overview of China’ plant biotechnology development and its impacts on farmers. Our study shows that while Chinese policymakers have considered agricultural biotechnology as a strategically significant tool for improving national food security and raising agricultural productivity, they have been hesitant to approve the commercialisation of new genetically modified (GM) crops since the late 1990s. China now has several GM plant species such as rice, maize and soybean that are in the pipeline for commercialisation, but except for Bt cotton none have been approved for commercial release since 1997. In 2003, more than 5 million farmers adopted Bt cotton and nearly 60 percent of cotton area was planted with Bt cotton. Our survey data on yields and econometric analyses indicate that the adoption of Bt cotton increased output per hectare by nearly 10 percent and reduced pesticide use by 35 kg (or about 60 percent), which significantly improved the income of small farmers. We also provide evidence that farmers have less health problems because of reduced pesticide use. More importantly, our most recent survey shows that the performance of GM rice in the pre-production stage is impressive. Insect and disease resistant GM rice can reduce pesticide use per hectare by 17 kg (or nearly 80 percent). Our survey also provided evidence of a slight increase of yield from GM rice production. We conclude that plant biotechnology will significantly boost China’s agricultural productivity and there are lessons for other developing countries in their experience. Media summary China is developing the largest public plant biotechnology sector in the developing countries. More than 5 million small farmers have benefited significantly from Bt cotton production. Future gains from GM rice will be substantial.