Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-21
By: CNA and Staff Reporter
The Agriculture and Food Agency (AFA) under Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture, has
Soybeans. (File photo/Teng Po-jen)
decided to implement a five-year project to promote the cultivation of non-genetically modified grain. The decision was made during a meeting attended by agriculture officials from central and local governments on Friday.
AFA deputy director Chen Chun-yan said the agency expects as much as 32,000 hectares, an increase of 20,000 hectares, to be dedicated to crops other than rice and wheat by 2020.
Chen said the project is intended to encourage local farmers to grow non-GM crops such as soybeans, black beans and flint corn, increasing local supply amid growing public concern over genetically engineered farm produce.
Starting this year, 1,500 hectares of farmland will be dedicated to growing these non-GM crops on a trail basis, with a comprehensive production system to be put in place by 2016, including an official logo and QR code, he added. [FULL STORY]
