China must have a place in transgenic technology.

Recently, Yu Xinrong, vice minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, held a press conference on agricultural work, saying that China must have a place in GM technology. At present, China has not approved any commercial production of genetically modified staple grains.

Talking about Food Security

Chinese rice bowls should be filled with Chinese food.

Responding to the issue of food security at the press conference, Yu Xinrong said that the current food security situation in China is very good. In 2014, China achieved an "eleven consecutive increase" in total grain output, with total grain output reaching a new high of 1.2142 trillion jin and grain per unit area reaching a new high of 359kg. In addition, the per capita share of grain in China is the highest in history, close to 900 jin.

Yu Xinrong said: China's grain imports reached the highest last year, with a total import of 100 million tons, but more than 70 percent of those 100 million tons were imported soybeans, and cereals accounted for only 3.2 percent of the total grain output last year. This is because the price of grain varieties in the international market is generally lower than that in China.

He said: in the process of structural adjustment and transformation of agriculture, it is necessary to take the absence of a substantial reduction in grain production and a decline in grain production capacity as one of the important criteria for the success of "adjustment" and "transformation".

"at any time and under any circumstances, we should attach importance to agriculture, especially grain production, and give top priority to it." Yu Xinrong said that the Chinese people's rice bowls should always be firmly in their own hands, and the rice bowls are mainly filled with Chinese food.

Talking about transgenic

Commercial production of genetically modified staple grains without approval

Yu Xinrong said: the attitude of the Ministry of Agriculture towards the issue of genetically modified genes is, first, to actively support independent innovation in research and occupy the commanding heights of agricultural biotechnology; second, to be cautious in promotion to ensure safety; and third, to manage in accordance with the law.

"at present, people have doubts and worries about GM, and there is a debate on the issue of GM in society. from the perspective of the history of human scientific and technological progress, this is a normal phenomenon." Yu Xinrong said that GM was born not long ago, and there is still a process of deepening society's understanding of this technology.

He said that in order to ensure the long-term and effective supply of grain and other major agricultural products, we must take the road of scientific and technological innovation, including genetically modified high and new technology, and must have a place. "I think, with the deepening of science popularization and the development of practice, public misgivings can be gradually diminished."

Yu Xinrong stressed that China has only approved the commercial cultivation of genetically modified cotton and papaya, and has not approved any commercial production of genetically modified staple grains. "the Ministry of Agriculture will promote and apply it cautiously in the future."

On the Development of Dairy Industry

The quality and safety of fresh milk continues to improve.

At the press conference, a reporter asked that dairy farmers poured milk, sold cattle and even killed cattle in some places at the beginning of the year. Yu Xinrong responded that from an international point of view, the global dairy industry increased significantly in 2014, which led to a substantial drop in milk prices in the international market, thus promoting a substantial increase in China's imports of milk powder.

"the increase in consumption in the domestic market has not caught up with the substantial import of international milk powder and the substantial increase in the domestic dairy industry, resulting in a drop in the purchase price of fresh milk from domestic farmers, especially farmers, from 3.25 yuan per kilogram at the beginning of last year to 2.85 yuan in the third quarter." Yu Xinrong said that another relatively long-term reason is that there is a gap between domestic dairy farming and dairy processing in terms of scale, cost and industrial connectivity, and the development of the international dairy industry.

He said that the Ministry of Agriculture has carried out special improvement and monitoring programs on the quality and safety of fresh milk for six consecutive years, and a total of 125000 batches have been sampled. The results show that the quality and safety of fresh milk is assured and continues to improve.