According to the roadmap outlined in 2006 by the Prime Minister’s Decision 11/2006/QD-TTg dated January 12, 2006, Vietnam will experiment several varieties of genetically modified crops (GMC) on the field in the 2006 - 2010 period. It will start commercial production of some GMCs (maize, soybeans and cotton) from 2011 to 2015 and cultivate GMCs from 2011 to 2015. After 2015, the area of new biotechnologically produced crops will account for 70 percent of agricultural land and 30 - 50 percent of it will be planted with GMCs.
To date, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development allowed three world-leading groups to deploy large-scale experiment in Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen, Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Dak Lak provinces to check their adaptability and outstanding features in comparison with conventional varieties.
At a recent conference on development strategy for effective approach to biotech safety system in Vietnam held in Hanoi by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Deputy Minister Bui Ba Bong said genetically modified products as well as genetically modified crops were primarily being experimented in Vietnam, not brought into mass production. GMCs are expected to be cultivated from in 2012. Attending scientists also asserted proven positive effects of GMCs in many countries around the world.
According to statistical data from the Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern Vietnam, for the time being, 22 countries in the world are planting genetically modified crops on nearly 130 million hectares, mainly maize, cotton, and soybean. The volume of pesticide for this area falls nearly 225,000 tonnes and productivity rises from 5 percent to 50 percent.
Mr Trieu Van Hung, Director of Science and Technology Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: "Currently, GMCs have been widely grown in the world with four major varieties of maize, soybeans, cotton and canola but Vietnam has just experimented only maize.
These are final experimental steps before the National Assay Council evaluate pros and cons of genetically modified maize. If it is safe to biodiversity and environment, it will be proposed for mass production after 2012, helping farmers increase productivity and reduce costs.
Concerned
As early as in 2006 when the key programme for biotechnological development and application till 2020 approved by the Government, which covered GM solutions, many scientists expressed their concerns about effects of these crops to humans and environment. Therefore, in couple with the roadmap for mass production of GMCs, the government also assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to set up monitoring and risk management systems the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to draft regulations on bio-safety and GM food labelling.
To prepare for the mass cultivation of GMCs, scientists working for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have submitted regulations on assaying and evaluating GMCs.
Still controversial
While the Vietnamese agricultural sector will certainly allow mass production of GMCs, controversies over pros and cons of GMC and genetically modified organism (GMO) keep going on. Many scientists point out that GMCs and GMOs have potential long-term risks to human health like allergy, antibiotic resistance, and intoxication. These problems can only be removed when protein in GM products is proven not allergen.
As regards biodiversity, GMCs may potentially spread modified genes into their wild relative, pests and diseases to increase their resistance to pests, diseases and herbicide or increase toxicity of GMCs to useful species or help harmful insects resist pesticides or kill many helpful insects, etc.
With respect to environment, the first risk is the selection factors of GMCs (resistance to coldness, drought, salinity, pest and diseases, etc) will be spread to flora, causing ecosystem imbalance, and reducing biological diversity of transgenic plants. Herbicide-resistant GMCs pollinate wild plants of the same varieties or close families and spread their herbicide-resistant genes to transgenic plant populations or spread genes from plants to soil bacteria.
In reality, the world keeps different attitudes to GMCs and GMOs. The United States, Canada, African developing countries, Latin America and Asia support the use of GMCs but Europe is very conservative in licensing the cultivation of GMCs and GMOs and the circulation of foods rooted from GMCs and GMOs. A group of countries keep neutral attitude.
However, GMCs and GMOs are still welcomed by many countries in the world as they help address food problems, mitigate harmful effects of climate change, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, cut production costs, etc. By 2015, some 40 countries in the world will allow genetically modified crops with the cultivated area expanded to 200 million hectares.
Thanh Yen
Vietnamese
