VietNamNet Bridge – The Department of Cultivation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has rejected news that Vietnam has imported genetically modified (GM) sugarcane for cultivation.

Illustrative image -- File photo

The department has written to the Vietnam Sugar and Sugarcane Association (VSSA) dismissing the news after a number of food producers asked the association to make clear whether local sugar mills used GM sugarcane or not.

Circular 72/2009/TT-BNNPTNT specifies only GM corn, soybean and cotton have been test-cultivated to evaluate their impact on biodiversity and the environment in the country. So far, the mass planting of GM corn has been approved.

As of the 2013-2014 crop, Vietnam had had over 73 sugarcane varieties with 29 of them chosen by local farmers to grow on 90% of the country’s total cultivation area.

Cao Anh Duong, deputy head of the Sugarcane Research Institute, said that 98% of sugarcane varieties planted in Vietnam are imported from different markets.

Most of the sugarcane varieties imported for test-cultivation in Vietnam are from Thailand, Taiwan, China and Cuba. It takes seven to 14 years to select and test the sugarcane varieties, he said.

Sugarcane varieties bred in Vietnam such as VN84-4137 and VN09-108 account for a mere 2% of the cultivation acreage.

Currently, South Africa, Australia and China have reportedly invested much in creating GM sugarcane varieties but none of them has announced to produce a GM sugarcane variety for commercial purposes.

According to gmo-compass.org, in the near future, the U.S. and Brazil, the two countries having the biggest areas under GM corn cultivation, can grow GM sugarcane, Duong said.

Indonesia announced three drought-resistant GM sugarcane varieties, NXI-1T, NXI-4T and NXI-6T, in 2003 and started growing those varieties a year later. However, they generated lower yields than those widely used by Indonesian farmers.

Data of the Department of Cultivation showed that Vietnam had had a total sugarcane area of 295,000 hectares by 2015, a year-on-year fall of over 10,000 hectares. Of the total area, farmers signed contracts with sugar mills for 256,000 hectares, dropping by 11,000 hectares.

Last year, sugar refineries bought a kilogram of commercial cane sugar (CCS) of 10% on the farm at VND850-900 and sold a kilo of sugar at VND12,500-13,000.

SGT