Why is the price of colored corn plummeting?

Color corn, as a new planting industry, is not genetically modified, but only a hybrid variety, but it has been "vilified" by some rumors of genetically modified crops, resulting in a sharp drop in prices. The public should also raise their awareness of genetically modified products and get out of the scientific blind area.

On July 2, Wan Xukui, director of the Fumin Professional Cooperative in Lu County, Sichuan Province, said: "in mid-June, our colored fresh corn entered the picking season, and as soon as we started selling it, the price plummeted. In previous years, the border price was three or four yuan per kilogram. Now it's only for one or two yuan." On the other hand, the price of white waxy corn, which is also used as fresh food, is several cents higher than in previous years.

Are fresh corn, why one price is high, one price is low? To this end, the author interviewed growers, wholesalers, as well as relevant experts of Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences to find out.

The price of genetically modified colored corn plummeted.

It is understood that at the Sichuan branch of the National fresh Corn Conference held in May this year, due to the broad market and good effect of increasing income, the planting area of fresh corn in Sichuan Province is increasing at a rate of 10% to 15% every year. Up to now, the planting area of fresh corn in Sichuan Province is more than 1 million mu, of which color corn accounts for more than half. Coupled with the initial processing industry, fresh corn has quietly become an important industry to increase farmers' income in the province.

After Wan Xukui inspected the fresh corn market last year, he planted a total of 200 mu in the first season this year, most of which were colored sweet and waxy series, with a yield of more than 2,000 jin per mu, but he encountered a big plunge in price.

"in the past, colored corn sold for 8 yuan per kilogram, but it sold for 6 yuan 8 yuan in May, but it only sold for 2 or 3 yuan in June." Ms. Wang, owner of a community vegetable store in Chengdu, said. In supermarkets such as Chengdu Renle, colored fresh corn was also sold at a price of 3 yuan per kilogram.

Referring to the reasons for the collapse in the price of fresh colored corn this year, Lin Wangming, director of Chengdu Wangming Corn Association, analyzed that the pulp of colored corn from other provinces has deteriorated after long-distance transportation, which has pulled down the price, and it is an indisputable fact that the output of the whole province has increased year by year, but the price has suddenly plummeted, which is beyond common sense. "the main reason is that there are some rumors online this year that colored corn is genetically modified corn, resulting in a massive loss of buyers." It is estimated that 300000 to 400000 mu of medium-ripe colored corn were picked in Sichuan Province in June, and the income loss of growers in this season is at least more than 1 million.

Online search for keywords such as "fruit corn / flower (color) corn + genetically modified" and found more than 400,000 related links. A recent post that attracted a lot of reading was a post in which "the United States declares that GM food is toxic", which mentions some of the characteristics of GM corn, which is similar to colored corn. According to the survey, the post has been repeatedly sent online in recent years, although it has long been refuted by netizens of the "rumor shredder" and other science and technology groups that "credibility is close to zero", but some people still blindly agree with it.

"ordinary people do not understand this, and they would rather believe that they have it than not believe it at all." The wholesaler he confirmed, "in the past, there were sales of nearly 1,000 jin a day, but now they only sell three to four hundred jin." "these rumors not only make the farmers suffer, but also make life difficult for us. The corn could not be sold, and the shelf life was short, and finally it was sold below the purchase price. " Wei, a seller of fresh corn who has been selling fresh corn for three years, has never encountered such a situation before.

Color particles are derived from "natural selection + hybridization".

With regard to the relevant rumors on the Internet, Yang Yuehua, an associate researcher at the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that first of all, it can be judged that the color particles of fresh sweet waxy corn are not derived from transgenic genes, but the genetic diversity of plants already existing in nature through natural selection and hybridization. different plant performance traits are inherited and maintained, such as purple potato, long eggplant, yellow flesh watermelon and other "special" fruits and vegetables are selected in this way. The so-called "bright color is genetically modified" has no scientific basis.

Secondly, the main functions of the transgenic technology currently used are: one is to control insects, the other is to control weeds.

From the perspective of farming system, the picking period of fresh corn is very short, and it is picked before the adult; in addition, growers do not use herbicides at the seedling stage, but before sowing, grass seeds germinate and weed; moreover, most of them are cultivated with plastic film mulching and do not need herbicides, so the two most advantageous functions of transgenic are not needed.

Third, in terms of resources, fresh corn is divided into waxy corn, sweet corn and sweet plus waxy corn, of which waxy corn originated in southwest China. The research level of waxy corn in China represents the leading level in the world, so it is not necessary to introduce waxy corn from abroad. In terms of China's seed management system, with the exception of cotton and papaya, the state has not yet allowed the cultivation of any other genetically modified crops, and all the approved crop varieties have passed the "non-genetically modified" identification; those that have not yet been examined and approved can only be planted if they are subject to strict seed sampling.

"fresh corn has a short ripening period, concentrated varieties, and has been circulated across provinces in Sichuan, Chongqing and Yunnan markets, so it is normal for prices to fluctuate." Zhao Yumin, secretary general of the organizing committee of the China fresh Corn Congress, believes that in terms of output, fresh corn has not yet reached the level of flooding the market, and the next step is for dealers to broaden their sales channels and adjust the retail price according to the receiving price.

For the "accidental injury" caused by rumors, it is necessary to increase the popularization of science and technology and improve the understanding of genetically modified products.

Yang Yuehua suggested that we should speed up the approval (identification) of new sweet and waxy maize varieties and strictly manage the use of unexamined varieties (especially foreign introduced varieties). Government regulatory departments should strengthen the crackdown on the dissemination of bad and false information, protect the legitimate interests of farmers, and create a real and safe consumption environment for the majority of consumers.