In mid-September last year, Wahei Go, chairman of a Hokkaido tofu association, traveled to Ohio in the U.S. to buy soy beans that were not genetically modified. The farmers he met told him that although they still produced non-GM soy beans, this year buyers from China had also expressed an interest in non-GM crops and therefore they would sell to the highest bidder.

The world’s first blue roses have been unveiled following nearly two decades of scientific research. The blooms are genetically modified and have been implanted with a gene that simulates the synthesis of blue pigment in pansies. The flowers, which were displayed at the International Flower Expo Tokyo, will go on sale commercially next Autumn.

Genetic modification could be used to make a sweetener found in licorice, and help halt desertification, say scientists in Japan. Researchers there have identified an enzyme with a key role in the biological manufacture of glycyrrhizin, a sweetener- up to 300 times more potent than sugar- from licorice root, which could enable industrial production of the ”natural” sweetener by genetically modified plants or microbes. [...] Licorice production is dependent on the collection of wild Glycyrrhiza plants, especially in China, and this has caused a decrease in licorice reserves and an increase in desertification where it is harvested.

Japan has found three incidents of processed rice product imports from China so far this year that contained a variety of genetically modified rice not authorised here, a health ministry official said on Friday. The strain of rice concerned, Bt-63, is a variety that has been modified to resist particular insect pests, but it has not been approved in many parts of the world, and China itself prohibits the export of GM rice. In July 2007, Japan stepped up its testing of rice products imported from China to cover all such imports and check for the unauthorised Bt-63.

Monsanto Co., the world’s leading producer of genetically modified seeds, hopes that value-added soybeans - now in its research pipeline - will help underscore the benefits of GM foods among Japanese consumers and soften their resistance to such food. ”Knowing how important soybeans are in the Japanese diet, I see real opportunity in GM soybeans for Japanese consumers,” said Kim Magin Sutter, Monsanto’s Director of Global Oilseed Industry Affairs. […..] Meanwhile, Sutter dismissed the argument that a few global agricultural majors are trying to control the world’s seed market by dominating patents on GM technology.

Kikkoman Corp said on Wednesday it had secured U.S. non-genetically modified soybeans for soy sauce production in Japan for 2009, and would have little choice but to continue to rely on U.S. soybeans. Many of Japan’s soy product makers use non-gm soybeans in keeping with domestic consumer preferences but face daunting procurement difficulties. Genetically modified soybeans now account for over 90 percent of planting in the United States, the world’s biggest soybean exporter, as farmers seek to cut herbicide use and production costs. A doubling in import costs of non-GM soybeans from a year earlier has encouraged a major Japanese tofu maker, Shinozakiya Inc, to increase the usage of locally grown non-gm soybeans, albeit gradually.

Japanese scientists have isolated the two proteins in rice which they contend is responsible for the plant absorbing so much arsenic from the ground. Researchers at the Okayama University’s Research Institute for Bioresources have announced their study, which used experimental rice with the proteins removed, as showing a sharp reduction in the intake of arsenic. ”We used mutant paddy (in which) these two transporters were knocked out and we saw decreased arsenite in both the stalk and rice grain,” said Ma Jianfeng at the Research Institute to Reuters.

We fully recognize the need for a wide range of mid- to long-term measures to tackle the issue of food security and poverty, inter alia, the importance of stimulating world food production and increasing investment in agriculture. To this end, we will: [...] accelerate research and development and increase access to new agricultural technologies to boost agricultural production; we will promote science-based risk analysis including on the contribution of seed varieties developed through biotechnology;

Japanese foodmakers are struggling to secure enough ordinary soybeans as food prices soar and U.S. farmers increasingly turn to GM soybeans. The surging prices enable farmers to rake in profits even with GM soybeans, which used to be less profitable than non-GM soybeans. While non-GM soybeans take more time and manpower to grow, genetically modified soybeans are easier to grow and yield larger crops.

Nihon Shokuhin Kako Co. Ltd., Japan’s largest buyer of corn for use in food, is importing genetically modified supplies for the first time this year as high prices deter gene-pure purchases, a company executive said. [...] Corn prices have risen 56 percent in the past year and reached a record $6.16 a bushel in Chicago on April 9. ”We have no choice but to use GMO corn, as the grain is becoming increasingly costly and the price differential between GMO and non-GMO supplies is widening,” Shoji said April 11.