Asia farming on horns of a dilemma over GMO

Asia farming on horns of a dilemma over GMO

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Asia, home to three fifths of the world's people, faces a dilemma -- how to feed a growing population without disrupting traditional farming methods that help social and political stability.

The UN's world food body, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said in a recent report biotechnology could make a huge contribution to reducing world hunger and reverse a trend towards disappointing crop yields.

But lobby groups and environmentalists in Asia say biotech poses potential risks for food safety, intellectual property rights and traditional farming methods.

"The interests of those propagating genetic engineering are the same as those that brought us the green revolution -- they want to make farmers dependent on multinational companies," said Von Hernandez, Greenpeace campaign director for Southeast Asia.

Leading biotech companies say genetic modification of crops increases output, lowers farm costs and can help improve nutrition in developing countries.

One crop where GM could be important is rice, Asia's staple. The world's population is growing faster than output of rice, and investment is urgently needed to teach poor farmers how to boost rice yields, according to FAO officials.

But too much improvement too fast could force people off the farm and into already crowded cities.

Rural communities in China and India support millions of people and stability in the countryside is an important driver of stability at the political level.

Only two months ago, a riot in China's revolutionary heartland was a chilling reminder of the potential for unrest among China's almost 900 million-strong rural population.

Paramilitary police were dispatched to the region after up to 20,000 farmers smashed government offices and looted homes in protest against harsh taxes, according to local officials.

One of the successes of recent decades has been the ability of China and India to expand their agriculture to feed their growing populations, but analysts say that the availability of arable land may become limited in future.

Both countries are looking carefully at the potential of genetically-modified (GM) crops to boost output, but are developing them warily.

China is producing GM cotton in key growing areas and a leading biotech company is conducting field tests on corn, but the government is cautious over producing corn commercially because of anti-GM feeling abroad.

Genetically-altered rice might be grown in China in the next two to three years.

In India, Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar said recently the country would not permit the use of biotechnology that goes against the interests of farmers.

India needed to develop a suitable system to protect plant breeder's rights, plant varieties and patenting, he said.

Any crop variety likely to affect the environment or health would not be allowed, but at the same time transgenic crops with the potential to enhance productivity, profitability and nutritional value should not be ignored, he said.

A particular worry for these countries was so-called "Terminator" technology that produces sterile seeds from a gene- altered crop.

"In addition to the high environmental and health risks associated with this technology, the individual farmer will have to pay for seeds for every planting," said the Southeast Asia office of Greenpeace this week. "This is not going to help the poor escape from hunger and malnutrition."