A new study has found that farmers in China who grew genetically modified rice had higher crop yields, used fewer pesticides and, therefore, had fewer health complaints than farmers who grew regular varieties. The results of the study are the latest development in a continuing debate over the wisdom of growing genetically modified foods.
Experts say China developed genetically modified varieties of rice in the mid-1990s. The hybrid rice contains genes from a number of different varieties that are resistant to disease and pests.
Before selling the modified rice commercially, the Chinese government wanted to find out how well it performed. The modified rice has not been licensed for sale.
Carl Pray is an agriculture professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Professor Pray said he and his colleagues began studying genetically modified crops in 1999 at the start of the controversy over the potential health and environmental risks of the technology.一项新的研究发现,中国种植转基因水稻的农民由于农作物产量较高,使用的农药较少,因此健康投诉少于种植正常品种的农民。这项研究的结果是在不断增长的基因改造食品的智慧的持续辩论的最新发展。
专家说,中国在九十年代中期开发了转基因水稻品种。杂交水稻含有来自多种不同品种的抗病虫害基因。
中国政府在销售改良米之前,想知道它的表现如何。改良大米尚未获得许可销售。
Carl Pray是新泽西州新布伦瑞克Rutgers大学的农业教授。 Pray教授说,1999年,他和他的同事们开始研究转基因作物,开始关于该技术潜在的健康和环境风险的争议。