China aims to be top global non-GMO soybean grower
Date: 14-Feb-03
Country: CHINA
High-yielding strains, with oil content two percentage points higher than the 17-18 percent norm in China, would replace some imports, the ministry said in a crop development plan for the next five years on its Web site, www.agri.gov.cn.
The varieties would be grown in 127 counties in the areas which cover northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning and in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, the plan said.
The plan "will build the northeast area into the world largest producing area for non-genetically modified soybeans with high oil content", it said.
"The aim is that by 2007, output of high oil crops in the northeast would be increased distinctly. Imports of high oil content soybeans would be controlled at a rational level," the plan said.
China's consumption of soybeans was expected to reach 33 million tonnes in 2007, of which high-yielding varieties would account for 25 million tonnes, the ministry said.
China's soybean consumption in 2002/2003 (October to September) was likely to be 30.28 million tonnes, of which imports would be 14 million tonnes, said the state-owned analyst group, the China National Grain and Oil Information Centre.
Domestic soybean output last year was a record high of 16.5 million tonnes, the ministry has said.
China, one of the world's biggest soybean consumers and the top global importer of the oilseed, has imported more than 10 million tonnes a year in recent years to meet expanding capacities at crushers.