Development of Biotech Crops is Booming in Asia

Despite unease in some parts of the world about the safety of genetically modified food, farmers in some Asian countries are jumping on the biotech bandwagon. Because GM crops are already increasing production in places like the United States, many Asian farmers have little choice but to plant them if they want to stay competitive. Governments are scrambling, too, investing huge sums of money in biotechnology research. The new “supercrops” – bigger vegetables, insect-resistant cotton, and the like – have so excited farmers that black markets have appeared in countries like Thailand where GM crops are still illegal. The push is widespread: from China to Vietnam to India, farmers want to ride the global biotechnology wave. –YaleGlobal