Key words: genetically modified crops, agricultural biotechnology, biotechnology breeding, China, biotechnology industry, grain production, total grain output, modernization development.
Text: 1996 to 2009, with the large-scale planting and popularization of genetically modified crops (hereinafter referred to as "genetically modified crops"), the global pesticide use of genetically modified crops decreased by 392,730 tons, that is, by 8.7%, and the environmental impact decreased by 17. 1%. The development of genetically modified crops poses new challenges to the pesticide industry, but it also brings new opportunities for some pesticide products. This is the information the reporter got at the 11th National Pesticide Exchange Conference a few days ago.
According to statistics, from 1996 to 15 in 20 10, the global planting area of genetically modified crops continued to expand, increasing by 30 times in 15, and the total planting area reached 10 billion hectares, with the total market value increasing by 50 times, 20. The income of countries and farmers who grow genetically modified crops is increasing. According to the survey of Brazil Seed Association, in the past 10 years, Brazil saved 5.9 billion dollars by planting genetically modified crops. It is estimated that in the next 10 year, the adoption of genetically modified crops may save Brazilian farmers 80 billion dollars. The number of countries planting genetically modified crops has increased to 29, and the variety of planting continues to increase. In addition to genetically modified soybeans, corn and cotton, wheat, potatoes and papaya are all newly developed and commercialized. It can be seen that transgenic crops are popular in some countries because of their market value and other factors.
This is both a challenge and an opportunity.
According to Hu Xiaoxing, editor-in-chief of China Pesticides, from 2006 to 20 10, the average annual growth rate of transgenic crops was double digits, while the average annual growth rate of traditional pesticide market was single digits or negative growth except for the growth of 10% in 2008.
In terms of pesticides, the cumulative planting area of transgenic crops from 2006 to 20 10 was 623.3 million hectares, of which herbicide-resistant crops were 393120,000 hectares, accounting for 63.0%. Most herbicide-tolerant crops are glyphosate-tolerant, which greatly squeezes the market of selective herbicides. According to experts' estimation, due to the emergence of herbicide-tolerant crops, the variety of herbicides has decreased by 10% ~ 15%, which also increases the difficulty of creating new herbicides in recent years. Selecting 1 new herbicide requires 40,000 to 50,000 compounds, and the company's research investment in selective herbicides is reduced. From 1996 to 2009, planting transgenic insect-resistant crops reduced pesticide by189,000 tons, and the area of transgenic insect-resistant crops increased by 7% annually, which brought severe challenges to the pesticide market.
From the perspective of crops, the development of transgenic rice will lead to a major adjustment in the use of pesticides in rice. For example, planting Bt insect-resistant rice with national safety certificate will reduce the use of pesticides in rice by 80%, and the glyphosate-resistant rice being developed can control all weeds. In the future, genetically modified wheat will also have an important impact on the pesticide industry. For example, Britain developed aphid-resistant wheat, and Dow Agricultural Science Company and DuPont Company developed insect/herbicide-resistant wheat respectively. It is predicted that after 8 ~ 10 years, the industrial planting of these transgenic wheat will have a great impact on the existing wheat herbicide, insecticide and fungicide system.
Challenges and opportunities coexist, and the development of genetically modified crops has also brought great opportunities to the pesticide industry. For example, the large-scale planting of glyphosate-resistant crops will make glyphosate beautiful, and the upcoming 24-D and "fop" herbicides (aryloxyphenoxypropionate herbicides) will usher in a new developing world for 24-D and dicamba, as well as other herbicide-resistant crops such as ammonium phosphate, bromocyanide, sulfonylurea and imidazolinone. These herbicide-tolerant crops have brought new vitality to ancient herbicide varieties. As for fungicides, due to the slow development of transgenic disease-resistant crops, there is still a lot of room for development of fungicides. For example, wheat is the only staple crop that has not been planted on a large scale so far, and disease-resistant wheat is also in the research and development stage. It is estimated that large-scale planting will be realized after 10~ 15, and the research on disease-resistant transgenic crops of other crops is relatively backward. Therefore, there is still a lot of room for development of fungicides.
Tolerance, acceptance and positive response
Facing the challenges and opportunities of genetically modified crops to the pesticide industry, how do multinational companies respond? Multinational companies have increased their investment in genetically modified crops through strategic adjustment, and developed related genetically modified crops from their own superior pesticides, such as Roundup Ready crops developed by Monsanto and Libertylink crops developed by Bayer. In addition, there are many examples of cooperation between several giants. For example, BASF and Monsanto cooperated to develop and use transgenic crop systems in dicamba, and the common result was to strengthen their monopoly position in the seed field. In addition to cooperation, several major agrochemical giants have further strengthened their monopoly by acquiring seed companies. For example, in the past 20 years, Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta, Bayer, and Dow Agricultural acquired more than 200 seed companies, and now they completely control the global seed market, and Monsanto has become the largest seed company in the world.
At the 20 1 1 Asia-Pacific Agrochemical Summit, Mr. Du Shang, Senior Vice President of Longdeng Crop Technology Co., Ltd., said that every enterprise has its own foothold and we should be tolerant of the emergence of a new thing. In addition, whether to adopt genetically modified crops depends on each country. For example, EU member states are cautious about genetically modified crops. Economic factors are the driving force for enterprises to promote new products, and gold will shine.