While Viet Nam remains careful with local cultivation of genetically modified crops (GMC), a large number of these products are already available on the local market.

Whether Viet Nam liked it or not, it was consuming GMC products, said Professor Nguyen Lan Dung, general secretary of the Viet Nam Microbiology Association.

Viet Nam had imported over 2 million tonnes of soybean oil-cake and 1.6 tonnes of maize annually, most of which were products of GMC technology, he said.

Many scientists at a seminar on developing GMCs held in October in Ha Noi confirmed that most animal feed contained genetically modified maize and soybeans.

Chairman of the Crop Variety Association Tran Dinh Long cited a survey conducted in 2007 showing that most samples of animal feed sold in the local market did indeed contain GMCs.

The survey said some varieties of GMC maize had been planted in combination with normal maize in HCM City and in the two southern provinces of Dong Nai and Binh Duong.

Nearly all cotton grown in Viet Nam was genetically modified, experts said.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong said large-scale cultivation of genetically modified maize would start as early as next year.

GMCs would be better able to withstand the harsh weather conditions caused by climate change, he said.

However, he said there were opposing views about the use of GMCs in the world.

One group says that GMCs represent scientific progress that could help increase agricultural productivity in the way that traditional methods fail to do. The other group says that GMCs are harmful to the health of humans, animals and biodiversity.

Bong said it wasn’t appropriate to approach scientific progress and complicated technology like GMCs as either acceptable or not. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development would soon publicise all information relevant to GMCs and widely gather opinions from people, he said.

Professor Dung said the use of GMCs was indispensable for the country as agriculture was its mainstay with over 70 per cent of population being farmers.

He emphasised the need for Viet Nam to choose a suitable path in the context of its low level of science and technology, and pointed out the cultivation of GM maize in Vinh Phuc, Dak Lak, Nghe An and Dong Nai provinces, where productivity was between 17 per cent and 35 per cent higher than that of traditional maize.

It would be worth cultivating if the productivity was at least two times higher, he said.

While developed countries are spending more on developing GMC technology, Viet Nam is strictly monitoring GM crops and trees to ensure everything is safe.

“Wide-spread cultivation of GM crops offers benefits but also presents challenges, particularly in Viet Nam where they were only recently introduced,” Bong said, adding that the planting of GM crops would be closely monitored.

He said the ministry would only allow the cultivation of GM maize, soybeans and cotton in the short term, with priority given to maize.

GMCs could help local agriculture develop faster, but mistakes could not be fixed if they occurred, he said.

Throughout the world, only 29 countries cultivate GMCs on a large scale since the first GM seedling was grown about 15 years ago.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) are organisms whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is then transferred into an organism, giving it modified or novel genes. Transgenic organisms, a subset of GMOs, are organisms which have inserted DNA that originated in a different species.

VNS