Table Of ContentAgricultural Biotechnology in China
·
Valerie J. Karplus Xing Wang Deng
Agricultural Biotechnology
in China
Origins and Prospects
Foreword by Norman E. Borlaug
ValerieJ.Karplus XingWangDeng
TechnologyandPolicyProgram DepartmentofMolecular,Cellular,and
MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology DevelopmentalBiology
77MassachusettsAve. YaleUniversity,P.O.Box208104
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ISBN:978-0-387-71138-6 e-ISBN:978-0-387-71139-3
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2007933078
(cid:2)c 2008SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,LLC
Allrightsreserved.Thisworkmaynotbetranslatedorcopiedinwholeorinpartwithoutthewritten
permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York,
NY 10013, USA),except forbrief excerpts inconnection with reviews orscholarly analysis. Usein
connectionwithanyformofinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,
orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdevelopedisforbidden.
Theuseinthispublicationoftradenames,trademarks,servicemarksandsimilarterms,eveniftheyare
notidentifiedassuch,isnottobetakenasanexpressionofopinionastowhetherornottheyaresubject
toproprietaryrights.
Coverillustration:RurallandscapenearGuanpingVillageincentralChina’sHunanprovince.
Printedonacid-freepaper.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
springer.com
For Guanping Village
Note on Chinese Names
Throughoutthetext,wespellChinesenamesusingthepinyinromanizationsystem
insteadoftheoriginalChinesecharacters.UsingthemainlandChineseconvention,
we write the last name followed by first name, as in Deng Xiaoping. We make
exceptionsfor scientists that are widely known outside of China by their Chinese
or American first name followed by last name, for example, Dr. Ray Wu. In the
WorksCited,sourcesarelistedaccordingtotheformatusedintheoriginalcitation,
usuallybytheauthor’slastname.
Scope of Work
ThisbookislimitedinscopetodevelopmentsthatoccurredinmainlandChina,and
mostly those occurringfrom 1949to the present. Throughoutthe text, we use the
name“China”torefertothemainlandonly.
Foreword
China’sstrongeconomicdevelopmentofrecentdecadesisbuiltuponitssuccesses
inagricultureresearchanddevelopmentoverthepast50years.Fromthemid-1950s
to the early 1970s, internal campaignsand upheavaldwarfed the achievementsof
manydedicatedChinesescientists.However,bythelate1970stheresultsofmodern
agriculturalresearch really began to bear fruit. For the next 20 years, agricultural
policies encouragedgreater initiative, innovation,investment, efficiency,and risk-
taking—alltothebenefitofChineseagriculture.Rapidexpansionintheuseofhigh-
yielding modern varieties and chemical fertilizers, improved water management,
and more effective weed, disease, and insect controlpractices all occurredduring
thisperiod.
Since the mid-1990s,however,China’s agriculturalprogresshas slowed. Rural
wagesarenowlaggingsignificantlybehindthoseinthecities.Rural-to-urbanmigra-
tionisaccelerating,andwilllikelyinvolveover200millionpeopleby2020.Man-
aging this demographicchange and keeping the agricultural economy and farmer
incomesexpandingarehugesocialandtechnologicalchallengesthatstandtoaffect
Chineseandworldhistory.
China’s population is projected to grow to 1.6 billion by 2050. A larger and
wealthierpopulationislikelytodoublefood,feed,andfiberdemandbymid-century,
while the arable land area is likely to fall by 20 percent, if not more because of
urbanization,landdegradationandwatershortages.
Newagriculturalscienceandtechnology—withgreaternationalcoordinationof
provincial and regional research organizations—will be critical to meeting these
challenges.Far-reachingpolicychangeswillalsobeneededinagriculturaltaxpol-
icy,landtenure,andfarmereducation.
KarplusandDengprovidean excellentaccountof howrecentdevelopmentsin
agriculturalbiotechnologyinChinamaybethenextbigstepinalongtraditionof
agriculturaladvances.Icommendthemforthisoutstandingpieceofscholarship.
Dr.NormanE.Borlaug
NobelPeacePrizeLaureate
ix
Preface
ThepathtoGuanping,aremotemountainvillageincentralChina’sHunanprovince,
invitesitstravelersbackintime.Overhillsandvalleystheelusivedirttrackwinds
almost beyondthe reach of China’s whirlwind economicdevelopment,arrivingat
clustersofwoodencottagesthathousearoundonehundredpeople.Thesurrounding
terracedhillsides, reminiscentofimagesin ancientbrushpaintings,overflowwith
the year’s rice crop. One of the co-authors of this book, Xing Wang Deng, was
born in this village, and as a boy followed the same path for miles to attend the
closestelementaryandmiddleschools.Wefollowedwell-wornfootprintsonavisit
to China’srice farmingregionsin the summerof2005,tracinga path thathasled
ultimatelytotheauthorshipofthisbook.
A closer look around Guanping revealed that even in its relative isolation, life
inthistypicalriceplantingvillagewaschangingrapidly.Thefiguresthatemerged
to greet us were either the very old or the very young. Most of the young adult
populationhadleftforhigherpayingjobsintownsandcities,joiningChina’sgrow-
ing migrant population. Rice paddies were sown with elite high-yielding hybrid
varieties developed by leading breeders in the provincial capital. Grafted onto an
otherwiseisolatedrurallandscapeweresatellitedishes,asmalldamnearbytosup-
ply electricity seasonally, fashion magazines, and bottles of carbonated soda, all
signsofincreasinglinkagestotheoutsideworld.
Thisbriefglimpseof ruralChina masksdeeperchallengesfacingthe country’s
farmers. Since its earliest days, agriculture has been inherentlydemandingon the
environment.OnlyamodestfractionofChina’slandisarable,andincreasingland
productivityhasbeenpartofthequestforsurvivaloverthousandsofyears.Today,
asChina’spopulationsurpasses1.3billionanddietschangetoreflectgrowingpros-
perity, this quest has never been more important. Especially over the last century,
effortsto increase agriculturalyields have taken a severe toll on the environment.
Rising applications of pesticides, fertilizer, and irrigation have left soils polluted,
salty,anddepletedofnutrients,whilestraininglimitedwaterandenergyresources.
ThecreeksnearGuanpingvillagearealmostsilentandlifeless,lackingthefishand
shrimp that were once abundant. High value fertile land is being lost to nonagri-
culturaluses,suchascommercialdevelopment.ThesetrendscastdoubtonChina’s
abilitytoprovideanadequate,safe,andenvironmentallysustainablefoodsupplyto
futuregenerations.
xi
xii Preface
AtypicalruralhouseholdinGuanpingVillage.Photobyauthors.
As part of efforts to address these challenges, China’s leaders are redoubling
investmentinscienceandtechnologyprograms.Thisemphasisonscienceandtech-
nologyinChinahasdeephistoricalroots.Forthousandsofyears,leadersandfarm-
ers have relied on incremental advances in science and technology to overcome
challenges facing the agricultural sector. The introduction of high-yielding crop
varieties and associated inputs in the 1960s and 1970s increased land productiv-
ity and helpedChina to maintainfoodself-sufficiencythroughthe early1990s.In
part due to the growing population and mounting environmental toll, the search
is now on for new solutions. Agricultural biotechnology is one option that has
emergedatthecrossroadsofthecountry’shightechnologyandagriculturaldevelop-
mentagendas.Wewrotethisbooktoexplorehowsupportforagriculturalbiotech-
nology has become a dominant theme in China’s agricultural research efforts,
and how its development might affect the future of the country’s agriculture and
foodsupply.
China’s rapid advances in the developmentof transgenic crops, which contain
yield-enhancing or other useful traits transferred in by a set of molecular tech-
niques, have drawnthe most widespreadattention.Severalyearsago, in the wake
offoodsafetyscaresandwidespreaduncertainty,transgenictechnologywaswidely
shunned,particularlyinpartsofEuropeandindustrializedEastAsia.Fewobservers
realizedthatmorethanfiveyearsbeforetheconflicterupted,virus-resistanttrans-
genic tobacco was being planted commercially in China. Although the transgenic
tobaccohassincebeenwithdrawnfromthemarket,researchonawidearrayofother
crops is now underway.Meanwhile, the widespread application of non-transgenic
Preface xiii
techniquesaimedatsolvingsomeofthecountry’smostpersistentagriculturalchal-
lengeshaslargelyescapedpublicnotice.Whilesomestoriesofagriculturalbiotech-
nologyinChinahavedominatedheadlinesandothershavenot,wewrotethisbook
to provide a more comprehensivepicture of recent developmentsfor citizens and
policymakers,bothinChinaandaroundtheworld.
We hopethisbookwillfindan eageraudiencein universitystudentsbeginning
their careers in an age of rapid transformation,as well as policy practitionersand
thecuriouspublicinChina andabroad.Thenumberofopportunitiesavailablefor
biologistsandbiotechnologistsinChinaisgrowingatanunprecedentedpace.These
individualswillshapethefutureofthefieldinChinaanditsinternationalreputation.
China’sagriculturalbiotechnologyprogramshavebeencraftedwithaneyetoestab-
lishingthecountryasamajorcontributorininternationalscientificcircles,boosting
economiccompetitivenessin world markets, and modernizingits agriculturalsec-
tor.Achievingthesegoalswilldependonwhetherornottheresearchenterpriseand
commercializationchannelsareeffectivelymanaged.Thisbookexplorestheseman-
agementchallenges,andoffersseveralguidinginsightsforthefutureofagricultural
biotechnologyinChina.
The completion of this book owes much to the efforts of our reviewers, col-
leagues, family, and friends. First, we would like to thank Carl E. Pray, Huang
Jikun,Scott Rozelle and othersaffiliated with the Chinese Center forAgricultural
Policy in Beijing. As leading researchers on the economic aspects of agricultural
biotechnology in China, they have provided us with anecdotes and access to the
center’s data and manuscripts,which have proveninvaluablein the completionof
this work. We also extend our gratitude to the directors, staff, and students of the
NationalInstitute of Biological Sciences, Beijing for their supportfor this project
from2005to2006.WealsothankZhuangQiaosheng,FanYunliu,JiaShirong,Lin
Min,andGuoSanduiattheChineseAcademyofAgriculturalSciences,andZhang
Qifa at the Huazhong Agriculture University, for tours, interviews, and reports of
their work. We thank Chen Zhangliang and his colleagues at China Agricultural
Universityforpersonalstories,connectionstoscientists,andphotographsthathave
proven essential to understandingthe early years of agricultural biotechnologyin
China. Thanks also to Li Xiaoyun, Xiang Ying, and the College of Humanities
andDevelopmentatChinaAgriculturalUniversityfortheirhelpinorganizingfield
studies in China’s Henan and Hebei provinces in 2002. We are further grateful
to Dr. Ray Wu at Cornell University and representatives of the China National
Center for Biotechnology Development for their insights into early government
support for China’s biotechnology programs. We also appreciate the input of
industryrepresentativesandthestaffattheAgriculturalAffairsOfficeattheUnited
States Embassy in Beijing. We thank Gary Toenniessen and Deborah Delmer at
the Rockefeller Foundation for sharing the history of the foundation’s support
for biotechnology, particularly its applications to rice. Graduate students Chen
Haodong and Liu Jianing rendered invaluable help with translation and research.
Valerie extends a special thanks to the Henry R. Luce Foundation for supporting
herworkinChinafrom2002to2003.
Finally, we would like to thank those who assisted in the review, editing and
preparation of this manuscript. We thank Huang Jikun, Rob Paarlberg, Carl E.
xiv Preface
Pray,andGaryToenniessenforvaluablefeedbackonitsconceptandcontent.Our
gratitudealso belongsto MarianneS. Karplus,Susan S. Karplus,David L. Rager,
and William R. Shermanfor theirencouragementand willingnessto editdraftsin
thefinalstages.ValerieextendsheartfeltthankstoPaulL.H.Cook,MoiraHeiges,
PaulT.Karplus,ShanLiu,NicolasOsouf,JeanD.Sherman,JenniferShuford,and
DavidG.Victorfortheirsupportthroughoutthewritingprocess.
We sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading a tale of how old and new have
shaped the emergence of agricultural biotechnology in China. Though we cannot
predictitsoutcome,wehopethefollowingpageswillilluminatethewayforward.
ValerieJ.KarplusandXingWangDeng
