China will likely plant less than 1% of its corn fields with genetically modified varieties this year, said two people familiar with the plans, dashing hopes for a full market launch of the technology in the world’s second-largest corn market.
The agriculture ministry has designated around 4 million mu (267,000 hectares or 660,000 acres) to be planted with genetically modified or GMO corn this year, said a senior manager at a Chinese seed developer briefed on the plans.
China planted about 43 million hectares of corn last year, producing a crop of 277 million tonnes, according to official data.
Despite official wariness over GMO crops, there is huge demand for hardier, high-yield grains. In China’s breadbasket in the northeast, illegally sown GM corn makes up about 70% of the acreage, according to a state media report in 2021.
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China’s corn fields yield only about 60% as much corn on average as in top producer the United States, where GMO corn makes up more than 90% of the crop.
President Xi Jinping, however, has increasingly supported use of the technology, which he says is crucial to bolstering China’s food security. Trade tensions, erratic weather and war in major corn exporter Ukraine have increased official worry over feeding the country’s 1.4 billion people.
