Gene-altered crops to become popular in VN by 2015

After the Government approved a key program on biotechnological development and application in agriculture and rural sector to 2020, quite a few projects on GM crops have been launched in Việt Nam.

So far, domestic colleges and research institutes have been able to create some varieties of GM crops at laboratory level. These products will be piloted in net houses, greenhouses and fields.

Prioritized GM crops include rice, maize, cotton, soybean, cassava, and potato, all of which are food staples in Việt Nam.

Except for rice, Việt Nam has to annually import them in large quantity. Thus, it is pressing for the country to increase the output of these crops.

GM crops can help to improve productivity and income, conserve bio-diversity, improve environment, ensure food security, and provide a good food source for husbandry.

The latest report of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agro-biotech Applications (ISAAA) says that the cultivated area of GM crops is expanding up to 800 million hectares, of which the US has 62.5 million, Argentina 21 million, Brazil 15.8 million, India 7.6 million, and Canada 7.6 million.

Soybean is the crop most planted last year, with 66 million hectares (making up 53% of the total area for GM crops worldwide). It was followed by maize (37 million hectares), cotton (15.5 million), and canola cabbage (5.9 million).     

By Kim Anh