Managers' attitudes toward gene-editing technology and companies' R&D investment in gene-editing: the case of Chinese seed companies.

The Chinese government has issued a series of new policies to make it easier to industrialize gene-edited crops. However, whether technological advantages will eventually translate into industrial advantages and whether farmers will soon have access to gene-edited varieties partly depends on seed companies' willingness to produce and sell gene-edited varieties to farmers and to invest in developing their own gene-edited varieties. This study utilizes data from a survey of 111 seed companies collected in 2019 before the implementation of new regulations.

Governmental regulation induced pesticide retailers to provide more accurate advice on pesticide use to farmers in China.

Background: In China, pesticide retailers have often been accused of providing inaccurate advice on pesticide use to farmers in a chaotic pesticide market. However, it is unclear whether governmental regulation of sales and advice on pesticide use by pesticide retailers induces them to provide accurate advice.

Results: Using survey data of 242 pesticide retailers in 2016, this study analyzes how pesticide retailers in China provide advice on pesticide use to farmers and examines whether governmental regulation induces pesticide retailers to provide accurate advice.

The Chinese public's awareness and attitudes toward genetically modified foods with different labeling.

This paper analyzes the awareness and attitudes of the Chinese public toward genetically modified (GM) foods with different types of labeling and evaluates the impact of public confidence in the government management of GM food labeling has on their attitude. From 2015 to 2016, we conducted a series of surveys to collect data from 1730 respondents, which included consumers, farmers, media, and local agricultural officials in agricultural departments. The results show ~60% of the Chinese public do not know that they usually consume or purchase GM products or products containing GM ingredients.

Do farmers misuse pesticides in crop production in China? Evidence from a farm household survey.

Background: In China, pesticide overuse and underuse have been studied. However, little empirical evidence has been provided for pesticide misuse.

Results: Using data from a farm household survey in 2016, we quantitatively analyzed Chinese farmers' pesticide misuse in the production of rice, apple, tea, and greenhouse vegetables.

A comparison of the effects of agricultural pesticide uses on peripheral nerve conduction in China.

Evidence on the adverse effects of agricultural pesticide use by farmers under the actual field conditions on their peripheral nerve conduction in China is limited. This study was to investigate the association of agricultural pesticide use with the abnormalities of farmers' peripheral nerve conduction based on two rounds of conventional nerve conduction studies. The level of pesticide exposure was assessed by measuring total amount of pesticides used by farmers in 2012.

Health effect of agricultural pesticide use in China: implications for the development of GM crops.

It is notable that the adoption of GM glyphosate-tolerant crops increases glyphosate use but reduces non-glyphosate herbicide use; and adoption of GM insect-resistant crops significantly reduces insecticide use. While the health hazard of pesticide use has been well documented, little literature evaluates the health effects of different pesticides related to GM crops in an integrated framework. This study aims to associate the uses of different pesticides related to GM crops with the blood chemistry panel and peripheral nerve conduction of Chinese farmers.

Association between occupational exposures to pesticides with heterogeneous chemical structures and farmer health in China.

This study analyzed the associations of farmers' exposure to organophosphates (OPs), organosulfurs (OSs), organonitrogens (ONs) and pyrethroids (PYRs) with parameters of the blood complete counts (CBC), a blood chemistry panel (BCP) and the conventional nerve conduction studies among 224 farmers in China in 2012. Two health examinations and a series of follow-up field surveys were conducted. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to evaluate the associations.

Overuse or underuse? An observation of pesticide use in China.

Pesticide use has experienced a dramatic increase worldwide, especially in China, where a wide variety of pesticides are used in large amounts by farmers to control crop pests. While Chinese farmers are often criticized for pesticide overuse, this study shows the coexistence of overuse and underuse of pesticide based on the survey data of pesticide use in rice, cotton, maize, and wheat production in three provinces in China. A novel index amount approach is proposed to convert the amount of multiple pesticides used to control the same pest into an index amount of a referenced pesticide.

Long- and short-term health effects of pesticide exposure: a cohort study from China.

Pesticides are extensively used by farmers in China. However, the effects of pesticides on farmers' health have not yet been systematically studied. This study evaluated the effects of pesticides exposure on hematological and neurological indicators over 3 years and 10 days respectively.

Impact of insect-resistant GM rice on pesticide use and farmers' health in China.

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.

Neurological effects of pesticide use among farmers in China.

The intensive use of pesticides has attracted great attention from the Chinese government. However, current regulations have had limited influence on their safe use. Although the acute neurologic effects of pesticides have been well documented, little is known about their cumulative effects.

Effect of farm management practices in the Bt toxin production by Bt cotton: evidence from farm fields in China.

Based on farm field plot level survey data and laboratory test, we examine the determinants of the expression of Bt toxin in China's Bt cotton production. The results show that the expression of Bt toxin differs significantly among varieties. Even for the same variety the expression of Bt toxin also varies substantially among villages and among farmers in the same village.

A decade of Bt cotton in Chinese fields: assessing the direct effects and indirect externalities of Bt cotton adoption in China.

The objective of this study is to examine whether or not the gains from reduced spraying for bollworms are being sustained more than one decade after the initial adoption in 2007. Based on farm-level data collected by the authors in 1999-2007 in 16 villages from 4 provinces, this study shows that insecticides applied for controlling bollworms have declined. This analysis supports Chinese policy makers' decision to not require refuges of non-Bt cotton fields.

Insect-resistant GM rice in farmers' fields: assessing productivity and health effects in China.

Although no country to date has released a major genetically modified (GM) food grain crop, China is on the threshold of commercializing GM rice. This paper studies two of the four GM varieties that are now in farm-level preproduction trials, the last step before commercialization. Farm surveys of randomly selected farm households that are cultivating the insect-resistant GM rice varieties, without the aid of experimental station technicians, demonstrate that when compared with households cultivating non-GM rice, small and poor farm households benefit from adopting GM rice by both higher crop yields and reduced use of pesticides, which also contribute to improved health.

Genetically modified cotton and farmers' health in China.

This study provides the first evidence of a direct link between the adoption of a genetically modified (GM) crop and improvements in human health. Estimation of the impact of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton adoption on pesticide use from data from a survey of cotton farmers in northern China, 1999-2001, showed that Bt cotton adoption reduced pesticide use. Assessment of a health-production function showed that predicted pesticide use had a positive impact on poisoning incidence.

Five years of Bt cotton in China - the benefits continue.

Bt cotton is spreading very rapidly in China, in response to demand from farmers for technology that will reduce both the cost of pesticide applications and exposure to pesticides, and will free up time for other tasks. Based on surveys of hundreds of farmers in the Yellow River cotton-growing region in northern China in 1999, 2000 and 2001, over 4 million smallholders have been able to increase yield per hectare, and reduce pesticide costs, time spent spraying dangerous pesticides, and illnesses due to pesticide poisoning. The expansion of this cost-saving technology is increasing the supply of cotton and pushing down the price, but prices are still sufficiently high for adopters of Bt cotton to make substantial gains in net income.