GM rice set for go-ahead

China could be the first country in the world to approve genetically  

modified (GM) rice.

The State Agricultural GM Crop Biosafety Committe, the technical body  

which evaluates GM rice for research and marketing, is likely to meet  

in November, according to insiders - and Chinese scientists are  

confident of the progress they have made.

On the agenda will be four varieties of GM rice developed by Chinese  

scientists - three insect-resistant varieties and a fourth which can  

withstand bacterial blight.

The four breeds have been undergoing pre-production safety evaluation  

since last December and the committee's decision is the last step  

before commercialization.

"China's GM rice technologies lead the world and they are very mature  

for commercialization," said Zhen Zhu, a leading rice scientist and  

deputy director of the Bureau of Life Sciences and Biotechnology at  

the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

A research report published in the prestigious Science magazine  

revealed that insect-resistant GM rice reduces pesticide use by  

nearly 80 per cent. Also, the yield goes up by 6-9 per cent.