japanese traders have recently bought corn and soybeans grown exclusively from non-genetically modified (gm) seeds, at premiums roughly 40-50 per cent higher than those for mixed gm and gm crops.
"Japanese food companies will start receiving non- gm corn deliveries from the us in November. The volume of imports of non- gm us corn to Japan is likely to touch 70,000-80,000 tonnes by the end of this year," said a businessman at a grain-trading house. The imports are mainly for use in beer production. Soybean traders expect that out of the total Japanese demand for food soybeans of 800,000 to one million tonnes in the 1999-2000 year, 500,000-600,000 tonnes will be non- gm varieties. "The Japanese are buying non- gm soybeans at high premiums. This will probably be taken as an incentive by us farmers to increase production of non- gm soybean varieties," said a businessman at a major Japanese trading house. According to another survey, 66 per cent of food companies have decided or are considering switching to non- gm ingredients.
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