Consumer fears may force China and India to delay transgenic rice by another two years, but these countries will have to eventually embrace the technology to meet growing demand, a senior industry official said. Ren Wang, deputy director general for research at the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute, added that the exporting countries of Thailand and Vietnam were unlikely to introduce transgenic rice for many years on fears of losing market share.

He also said news that unapproved genetically modified rice was found in some US long grain supplies -- which rattled the Chicago rice market -- was unlikely to have an big impact on global prices. World grain markets have been expecting China, the top rice consumer, to commercialise transgenic rice this year, but Beijing has applied the brakes to the plan on food safety concerns and on reports of illegal domestic sales of transgenic rice.

"Genetically modified rice in China is at least two years away," Wang told Reuters in an interview. "My understanding is that concerns of the government in China are mainly focused on the fact whether its going to be accepted by consumers. There are also some political and environmental considerations."

China, India and the Philippines have been aggressively pushing research on genetically modified rice, saying that it would cut the cost of production, boost yields and make the grain more affordable to consumers in a region where rice is a staple. But Greenpeace and other non-governmental organisations have stepped up protests on transgenic food grains, saying they threaten consumer health and the environment.

CONCERNS REMAIN
The opposition to GMO food crops is much stronger than for crops such as cotton and feed crops such as corn. In 2004, Monsanto Co. dropped plans to introduce the worlds first genetically modified wheat, after worldwide protests. Iran was the first country to commercialise transgenic rice in 2004, but no other country in Asia has followed suit.

"In India BT rice has been field-tested but it could still take longer for commercialisation, maybe three years," Wang said. "Before introducing any variety, my thinking is that China and India will first strengthen the food safety regulatory aspect to make sure that transgenic technology is used properly."

China annually produces about 180 million tonnes of rice and India about 85 million, together accounting for about 65 percent of world production. A bulk of that is consumed domestically. "But I personally do not believe that developing countries like China and India can avoid adopting transgenic technology in food crops such as rice," Wang said. "There has been no evidence so far suggesting any negative impact on health. Some testing has been done in open fields and again there was no evidence of problems on environmental issues."

While Thailand, the worlds top rice exporter, had a very strict regulation on research on genetically modified rice, Vietnam was actively conducting some research on the issue. "But both countries dont have any time frame to introduce a transgenic rice," he said. Thailand exports more than 7 million tonnes of rice a year and Vietnam exports about 5 million tonnes.

Rice futures in Chicago slid to near two-month lows this week, with nearby months falling the 50-cent trading limit, on renewed concerns about export business after unapproved genetically modified rice was found in the United States. But Wang said the impact on world prices from this would be limited. "The worlds big rice consumers anyway dont import a lot of rice from the United States."
(By Sambit Mohanty, Reuters, 25/08/2006)
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