Even though the impact of Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt) cotton on pesticide use has been well documented,all previous studies focus on the mean value of pesticide use. Using seven unique waves of panel data collected between 1999 and 2012 in China,we show that Bt cotton adoption has not only caused a reduction of the mean value of pesticide use,but also a reduction of the standard deviation of pesticide use. We conclude that Bt technology adoption has also contributed to the stability of pesticide use in cotton production. We believe that this contribution is theoretically and practically relevant because of the long length of our unique dataset.
China's food supply and demand have significant implications for both China's own national food security and that of the world. This study reviews China's food security prospects and their implications, focusing on international trade in the coming decade. The results show that China's policies for ensuring food security will be enhanced and China will move to sustainable agriculture. Most studies anticipate that China will increase its food and feed imports in the coming decade. China's overall food self-sufficiency is likely to fall from 94.5% in 2015 to around 91% by 2025. The greatest increases in imports are likely to be soybean, maize, sugar, and dairy products. However, within the production capacity of the major exporting countries and of many food-importing developing countries, China's additional imports of 3 to 5% of its total food consumption in the coming decade are unlikely to threaten global food security. Indeed, the projected imports of feed and several foods could provide opportunities for many exporting countries to expand their production and save global resources.
The economic benefits of insect-resistant genetically modified(GM) crops have been well documented, but the impact of such crops and the consequent reduction in pesticide use on farmers' health remains largely unknown. Through the analysis of the data collected from the physical examination from farmers in China, we show that GM rice significantly reduces pesticide use and the resultant not only visible but also invisible adverse effects on farmers' neurological, hematological, and electrolyte system. Hence, the commercialization of GM rice is expected to improve the health of farmers in developing countries, where pesticide application is necessary to mitigate crop loss.
With the rapid growth of China's economy,rising demand for safety food has been accompanied by frequent food safety scandals. Given that China's farming is dominated by millions of small-scale farms,ensuring food safety is a major challenge facing the public and private sectors. The direct farm(DF) program,initiated in 2008,represents one of the government's major initiatives to modernize the distribution of fresh fruit and vegetables(FFV) and improve food safety. Under the DF program,participating national and international retailers are expected to establish more direct procurement relationships with farm communities. While it is often claimed that greater participation by retailers in the production and post-harvest processing implied the DF program will lead to improved quality,safety and traceability,systematic evidence remains elusive as existing studies are largely narrative,based on case studies,or theoretical inference. Little empirical evidence is available for a broader evaluation of the DF program. This paper aims to fill this gap by assessing the overall performance of a single retailer's DF experience with respect to the procurement and food safety of FFV. We use data from a survey of production managers of 35 DF production bases(PBs) spread across 11 provinces,3 cities and 1 autonomous region in China. The results show a mixture of opportunities and challenges. On one hand,the DF program improves production practices and distribution channels of FFV produced on its PBs,thus facilitating the move of China's food system towards improved food safety compliance. On the other hand,significant heterogeneity in the traceability of food and the ability of DF to meet higher safety standards is evident both across major product categories and across household-operated vs. firm-operated PBs. The paper concludes with policy implications.
DING Ji-pingHUANG Ji-kunJIA Xiang-pingBAI Jun-feiSteve BoucherMichael Carter
The debate about the safety of genetically modified(GM) food has attracted public attention in concurrence with the rapid development of agricultural biotechnology. This paper examines the consumers' perceptions on the safety of GM food in China. Based on a unique survey dataset,this study shows that consumers in urban China have significantly changed their perceptions on GM food safety. The percentage of consumers who perceived such food as unsafe for consumption increased by more than 30% in the 2002–2012 period. Approximately half of the consumers did not have an opinion on this issue. Major shifts have been occurred after 2010,likely because of the increasing influence of negative media reports on GM technology in recent years. Several individual and household's characteristics are shown to significantly affect consumers' perceptions on GM food safety,such as gender,education,food allergy experience and resident city size. The paper concludes with policy implications.
