30 Sep 2011China, the world's second-largest corn consumer, said it will focus on raising domestic corn production to meet fast-rising demand and is testing use of genetically modified organism (GMO) technology to boost output, a senior government official said on Thursday.
In a bid to tame booming demand, Beijing will continue to control the use of corn by industrial processors, whose soaring consumption has helped exacerbate a corn deficit that has pushed corn prices to record highs ASCORN-CN despite record corn harvests.
"We have approved one type of GMO strain and we're testing to see if they can be applied to boost production," Chen Xiaohua, a vice agricultural minister, said at a press conference.
"GMO technology is the strategic choice of the country in future."
http://greenbio.checkbiotech.org/news/china_boost_domestic_corn_output_meet_demand_govt
