Ngoc Hung
Scientists chat on the sidelines of the conference on GM crops in Manila - Photo: Ngoc Hung
Representatives of countries and territories taking part in the biotechnology conference, including Thailand, Vietnam, India, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Pakistan and the Philippines, said that although GM crops are facing objections from farmers in their countries, such crops would prevail in the long run.
It is because problems related to weeds and pest control along with low crop yields have forced developing economies to resort to GM crops en masse to avoid dependence on imported food products, speakers said at the conference organized by Singapore-based Croplife Asia, a non-profit organization specializing in biotechnology.
Among those countries, China, India, Pakistan and the Philippines are the four that have grown GM plants on vast areas.
By the end of last year, the area of GM crops in developing countries have surpassed that in developed countries.
Of 18 million farmers in 27 countries that plant GM crops, farmers in eight developing countries have grown 81.2 million hectares of GM crops, or 46.2% of the global total. In addition, the total area for GM crops worldwide has grown 100-fold since 1996, when it was first planted, to 175.2 million hectares by the end of last year.
According to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), GM crops have been proving values as a helpful tool for poor farmers, who are facing the pressure of water shortage, affect from climate change, and the increase of weeds and pests. ISAAA predicts that GM area will continue to expand in the next few years.
In a latest research, it finds out that almost all farmers who have grown GM crops said they would continue the cultivation in the coming time.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
