In 2021, in order to solve the problems of Spodoptera litura and grass damage faced in current agricultural production, China carried out the pilot work of industrialized application of herbicide resistant transgenic soybeans and insect and herbicide resistant transgenic maize that have obtained the production and application safety certificate.
The pilot results recently learned by the global times show that transgenic soybeans and maize have excellent insect and herbicide resistance, significant yield and ecological effects, and the supporting high-yield, high-efficiency, green and light simplified production model has been gradually formed. Transgenic soybean can reduce the weeding cost by 50% and increase the yield by 12%; Transgenic maize can increase production by 6.7% to 10.7%, greatly reducing the cost of pest control.
The pilot follow-up monitoring found that the planting of genetically modified soybean and corn had no adverse effects on insects and soil animal communities. The planting of genetically modified corn reduced the use of pesticides and promoted the safety of ecological environment. At the same time, transgenic maize is less moldy due to small pest damage, low mycotoxin content and good quality. GM HT maize and soybean use the same low residue herbicide, which can solve the problem of interaction between soybean and maize fields due to the use of different herbicides, which is conducive to the intercropping and rotation of soybean and maize and realize efficient production.
Zhang Jie, deputy director of the Institute of plant protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, introduced at a media event on the 30th that the control effect of genetically modified corn on meadow moth without spraying insecticides is more than 85%, up to 95%; Transgenic soybean only needs to be sprayed with herbicide once, and the weeding effect can reach more than 95%.
So far, four insect resistant and herbicide resistant transgenic maize and three herbicide resistant transgenic soybeans have obtained production and application safety certificates in China, but they have not been industrialized. The pilot project marks a historic step in the industrialization of genetically modified soybean and Maize in China. With the continuous improvement of R & D level and management means and the gradual improvement of public opinion environment, the basic conditions for the industrialized application of biological breeding have been basically mature. Promoting the industrialization of biological breeding is not only a strategic choice to ensure national food security and important Shenzhen Agricultural Products Group Co.Ltd(000061) effective supply, but also a practical need to promote the high-quality development of modern agriculture.
Relevant statistics show that since the commercialization of genetically modified crops in 1996, the global planting area has reached 2.86 billion mu, increasing the average unit yield of crops by 21.6%. Through the application of transgenic technology, the average unit yield of corn and soybean in the United States is about 40% higher than that in China, and corn and soybean are also the two kinds of Shenzhen Agricultural Products Group Co.Ltd(000061) with the largest import volume in China in recent years. Among them, the import volume of soybean has exceeded 100 million tons in 2020.
With the support of a series of national science and technology plans, the technical level of China’s transgenic breeding has entered the forefront of the international second matrix, initially forming an innovation pattern of independent genes, independent technologies and independent varieties. Significant progress has been made in breeding research and development, and a great leap forward transformation from tracking the international advanced level to independent innovation has been realized. At present, the market share of domestic insect resistant cotton has increased from 10% in 1999 to more than 99%. The self-developed transgenic soybean corn has excellent properties and has the ability to compete with similar foreign products.
Transgenic breeding is not only a technical problem, but also a problem of public awareness and acceptance. There have been doubts, concerns and rumors around transgenic breeding technology. Liu Yaoguang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a researcher at the school of life sciences of South China Agricultural University, said on the 30th that in the past 20 years since the commercial application of genetically modified crops in many countries, there has not been a scientifically confirmed unsafe case. Before commercial production, genetically modified crops need strict safety assessment, including food safety and environmental safety.
Liu Yaoguang said that most crops are domesticated and artificially bred by humans. This process is accompanied by a large number of gene variation and transfer, such as rice, corn and tomato. In the process of biological evolution, natural transgenic events often occur. For example, some gene fragments of Agrobacterium symbiosis with sweet potato are transferred to the sweet potato genome. Transgenic technology is developed on the basis of these naturally occurring transgenic phenomena, not created out of thin air.
Many scholars who spoke on the same day stressed that China’s safety assessment of GM crops is very strict. At present, China has established a graded and phased safety evaluation management system for genetically modified crops. Four levels of safety evaluation are carried out according to five stages: experimental research, intermediate test, environmental release, productive test and application for safety certificate. Any problem unsafe to health and environment at any stage will be terminated immediately.
Xie Chuanxiao, a researcher at the Institute of Crop Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that when assessing the food safety of genetically modified crops, it is necessary to consider whether they will produce toxic substances or allergens compared with existing crops; Environmental safety is to evaluate the possible impact of transgenic crops on the environment, such as whether an insect resistant transgenic crop will harm non target insects other than the target pests; Another example is whether herbicide resistant transgenic crops will become “resistant weeds” of other crops, or resistance genes penetrate into weeds through sexual hybridization, causing more serious grass damage or ecological risk.
The 10th National Seminar on genetically modified media reporting, guided by the Department of science, technology and education of the Ministry of agriculture and rural areas, sponsored by the Beijing Science and technology journalist Editorial Association and undertaken by the Beijing Science and technology newspaper, was held in Beijing on June 30. The national media reporter transgenic reporting seminar has been held for 10 times, with hundreds of participants, and dozens of academicians and experts from the field of transgenic and related fields have been invited to participate in the lecture.
(Global Times)
