Science and Technology in the Human Development of China Essay Example

biomedical sciences, maternal care , improved health systems and many more have contributed to better health practices in China . Malnutrition and traditional infectious diseases have been replaced by chronic non-communicable diseases and emerging infectious diseases.

In China, more than 80% of deaths are caused by chronic non-communicable diseases. These increasing concerns have been tackled very well with the improved health technologies. A Background of Agriculture in China: Challenges and Needs The challenge in China is in the area of producing an adequate supply of food through agriculture, food production, processing, handling and distribution. To achieve this, labor-saving innovations and technologies should be established resulting in high-levels of production stability and large scale production output with a focus on single crops or livestock.

China has managed to sustain this, resulting in significant advances in the agricultural field. This was not the situation, however, several decades ago, particularly the years after 1949 when the People’s Republic of China was established. Agricultural land, cultivated and used for thousands of years in China’s long history, had lost most of the organic matter and nutrients needed to sustain a good agricultural yield. The impact of this situation on China’s growing population was severe, resulting in more than 30 million people dying of starvation in the aftermath of China’s Great Leap Forward.

However, the resulting economic gains had some significant drawbacks as the use of chemical fertilizers as well as pollution-creating agricultural run-off from farms posed environmental concerns, which threatened China’s aquatic resources and viable sources of drinking water. In this regard, technical advances are needed to provide more agricultural technologies that yield sustainable economic yields, while at the same time provide ecologically

and environmentally sustainable options because the pesticides being used were to be great source of pollution in those times affecting the water and the food chain in great negative sense .

This required a call for the building of a new socialist countryside which have been put forward during the Fourth Plenary Session of the 10th National People’s Congress, by providing a systematic improvement of agricultural production through the use of improved agricultural related technologies, resulting in more economic and more effective means for food production. This not only includes efforts in improving grains and crops, but should also include a separate focus on livestock development, while taking into consideration related environmental and ecological concerns.

Recent Technical Advances in Agriculture and Their Benefits to China China’s efforts in improving agricultural yield and food production have led to several technological and innovative advancements that helped catapult China’s overall agricultural industry into one of the most successful the world over. The use and development of technological advances in this area has moved from government financing to technologically-inclined corporations wanting to open up new markets.

Even the growth of such technologies made the farmers generate more income and also made the urban population more benefit due to more nutritious food and decreasing the health concerns of the public . Providing improved yields it also was responsible for the net increase in the exports of the crops leading to increased income for the country . One classic example is the development of the super hybrid rice variety by Yuan Longping. Companies providing seeds and technological know-how on super hybrid rice have partnered with townships to generate better yields.

Results showed better yield per

mu (0. 67 hectare), providing farmers with more income using the same tracts of land. Scientists and policy-makers, in both developing and developed countries, recognize the importance of agricultural technology in promoting increased productivity. Researchers have documented the importance of this in raising total factor productivity (TFP) in the agricultural sector in the US and in Japan’s development. Although there are differences over time and across regions, in general China’s TFP has risen at a healthy rate of about 2 per cent per year during thereform era.

A growth rate of 2 per cent is above the rate of population growth and is considered strong by international standards, about the same as the US during the 20th century and Japan in the post-World War II period. In order to measure the importance of various sources of productivity growth, we decompose TFP growth over two sub-periods, 1981-84 and 1984-95. Although institutional change was certainly important, the rice decomposition results show that technology was one of the key factors that drove the sharp increase in TFP during the early 1980s.

It contributed the largest share, augmenting the annual growth rate of TFP by 6 per cent (63. 6 per cent of the total growth rate). This positive contribution of technology to the growth of TFP during the period is underscored by the deterioration of China’s agricultural extension services and irrigation systems during the early 1980s. These problems negatively affected TFP by 3%. Subsequently, between 1984 and 1995 technology was the only factor that underlay the positive growth of TFP. Technological improvements would have caused TFP to grow by 2. 2 percent, instead of the overall actual rate of growth

1. per cent, had not other factors, such as problems in the upkeep of irrigation systems, significantly reduced the growth of TFP.

Findings from the decomposition analysis for wheat and maize are similar to those for rice. In both the early 1980s and the 1990s, technology in China has been the engine of the growth of agricultural productivity. Bio Technology China is often cited as one of most successful developing countries . This is not surprising given the impressive development of plant biotechnology and the record of adoption of genetically modified crops (GMOs) over the past 2 decades .

In 1997 shortly after the National Genetically Modified Organisms Bio safety Committee (GMOBC) was established, the committee approved 46 applications of scientists requesting permission to conduct field trials, environmental release trials and commercialize GM crops. Recent studies on GM rice have further demonstrated the positive effect on productivity and health that GM crops can generate for poor, small farm households and even for the urban masses given the vast and increasing population of China.

Biotechnology defined its goals in terms of improving the nation’s food security, promoting sustainable agricultural development, increasing farmer income, improving the environment and human health, and raising its competitive position in international agricultural markets. The system was enhanced (both in physical and human and physical terms) that could ensure the healthy and safe development of the technology that could contribute directly to human welfare as well as would be able to stimulate the commercialization of biotechnology. Bt Cotton: Impacts

Among all of the various research efforts, Bt cotton is the most successful plant biotechnology story in China. Cotton is China’s number one cash crop. In response

to the emergence of a pesticide resistant bollworm population and rising use of pesticides in the late 1980s, China’s scientists began to research and develop insect-resistant GM cotton. Starting with a gene isolated from the bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), China’s scientists transferred the modified Bt gene into a number of major cotton cultivars by the using a novel, Chinese scientist-developed “pollen-tube pathway” method of transformation.

The first commercial use of Bt cotton was approved in 1997. At that time, four Bt cotton varieties from China’s own publicly-funded laboratories and one from Monsanto, a foreign life science company were approved. The commercial release of Bt cotton triggered China’s initial experience with GM crops that covered a fairly wide area. When looking at pesticide use per hectare on Bt cotton over time, the results are mixed . In Hebei, for example, pesticide usage increased between 1999 and 2001.

In Shandong, however, after pesticide use per hectare increased between 1999 and 2000, it decreased in 2001. In Henan, pesticide use per hectare declined in 2001 over 2000. Although more precise assessment of the changes in pesticide use on Bt cotton over time is needed, at the very least there is not any evident findings that suggest the widespread use of Bt cotton is leading (at least until now) to a build up of resistance by the pest population to the Bt.

The data for Bt cotton variety shows that yields are higher than those of non-Bt varieties . For example, in 2001 when comparing yields for all of surveyed farms, Bt varieties were about 10% higher. Perhaps more importantly, and perhaps reflecting better farming practices by farmers over time, yield effects

became more prominent in provinces that used Bt cotton for longer periods of time. By reducing the use of pesticides Bt cotton also has reduced the number of farmers who are poisoned annually by pesticides .

The data show this by comparing the incidences of farmers reporting becoming sick after using pesticides among farmers that fall into one of three categories: group1—those farmers that exclusively use non-Bt cotton varieties; group 2—those that use both Bt and non-Bt varieties; and group 3—those that cultivate only Bt cotton varieties. When comparing group 1 (those that did not use Bt varieties) to farmers in groups 2 and 3, it is clear that a higher percentage of farmers planting only non-Bt cotton reported higher incidences of poisoning in each year of the sample—1999, 2000 and 2001.

The percentages were particularly high–22% and 29% in the first two years. In contrast, the share of group 3 farmers that reported that they had become sick from spraying pesticides fell was only 5 to 8 percent. GM Rice :Impacts Beside cotton, one of the most important achievements of China’s scientists has been the effort to create GM rice. Although Bt cotton is the only GM crop that has been commercialized across widespread areas of China, the farm-level effects of GM rice varieties that are still in the pre-commercialization stages of development show that similar effects of GM crops should be found when other crops are released.

Several GM rice varieties have entered and passed greenhouse and environmental release trials; four varieties currently are in pre-production trials in the fields of farmers. Like in the case of Bt cotton, the survey data shows that there is

a difference between yields of insect-resistant GM and non-GM varieties. According to the descriptive data, the mean of insect-resistant GM rice yields (6364 kg/ha) is higher than those of non-GM varieties (6151), although only by 3. 5% .

ANOVA tests that differentiate among year, village and GM versus non-GM effects demonstrate that the effect is statistically significant. The analysis largely supports the descriptive results . Holding all household-level effects, plot-specific inputs and certain other plot characteristics constant, the yields of insect-resistant GM varieties are 6 percent higher than those of non-GM varieties . Many differences arose because of this specially in the level of pesticides being used.

The study showed that the farmers applied the same types of pesticides, regardless of what type of rice they were growing. However, the farmers growing the genetically modified rice strains applied pesticides less than once per season, while farmers growing conventional rice varieties applied pesticides 3. 7 times per season. Measured on a per hectare (2. 471 acres) basis, the quantity and cost of pesticides applied to the conventional rice was 8 to 10 times as high as that applied to the insect-resistant genetically modified rice.

In short, use of the genetically modified rice enabled the farmers to reduce pesticide use by 15 pounds per acre, an 80-percent reduction when compared with pesticide use by farmers using conventional rice varieties. The low level of pesticides helped raising the health levels of not only the consumers at a large level but also of the farmers applying those pesticides As they were primarily applied with small back-pack sprayers that are either hand-pumped or have a small engine. Farmers also typically do not use

any protective clothing or breathing apparatuses.

Hence, applying pesticides is a hazardous task. In many cases—in fact, arguably in most cases—farmers end up completely covered with overspray from the pesticides. The analysis illustrates the importance of insect-resistant GM rice varieties in reducing pesticide use . The significant, negative coefficient on the GM rice, both variety variable means that GM rice use allows farmers to reduce pesticide use by 16. 77 kilograms per hectare , a reduction of nearly 80% (when compared to pesticide use of farmers using non-GM varieties).

The negative and significant coefficients on the GM Xianyou 63 and GM II-Youming 86 variables also demonstrate that each variety significantly reduces pesticides. Although the magnitudes of the coefficients differ, statistical tests show that there is no statistical difference between the actual effects of the two insect-resistant GM varieties on pesticide use. Bio fortification China has enacted agricultural and economic reforms and programs to reduce poverty. Areas of concern, which could hamper the achievement of this goal, are an increasing population and decreasing supply of arable land.

Globally, at least 50% of the arable land that has been allocated for crop production is low in the availability of one or more essential micronutrients. Approximately 20% of the overall rural population is vitamin A-deficient, and approximately 40% of rural, childbearing-aged women suffer from iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). Currently, stunting and underweight, symptoms of micronutrient under nutrition remain high in China's poorer provinces, despite supplementation and fortification efforts.

Increasing crop production may not be enough to relieve these deficiencies so the concept of bio fortification playing a major role in reducing these problems. Folate Bio fortification Despite efforts to reduce the burden

of malnutrition, large numbers of people still consume insufficient micronutrients, including folate. Folate deficiency, characterized by a suboptimal daily intake of folate (;400 ? g) may lead to the onset of diseases and disorders, such as neural-tube defects (NTD), megaloblastic anemia and aggravation of iron-deficiency anemia.

In line with the main micronutrient deficiencies (zinc, iron and vitamin A), folate deficiency is more prevalent in less developed, non-Western countries and in China around 20% of the population is considered to be folate deficient which is quite a disturbing amount. Several interventions are available to increase folate intake levels in malnourished populations, including folic acid pills supplementation, folic acid fortification and dietary diversification to increase the consumption of folate-rich foods.

Implementation of these approaches can often be problematic, however. For example, in poor, rural regions, such as Shanxi Province in Northern China, where industrial fortification is not well established, folate pill distribution often does not reach the targeted individuals and dietary habits are difficult to alter. In this context, folate biofortification (that is, improving the folate content of staple crops) offers an additional approach for alleviating the burden of folate deficiency. Folate-biofortified rice has been successful for two major reasons.

First, it is not only the world leader in the production and consumption of this staple crop, but also considered one of the pioneers of R;D and commercialization of genetically modified (GM) rice. In 2009, for instance, China's Ministry of Agriculture issued a bio-safety certificate to pest-resistant Bacillus thuringiensis toxin (Bt) rice, which should lead to large-scale production of this transgenic crop in about 2 to 3 years. This makes rice, the world's main staple crop, an appropriate food vehicle

for folate biofortification.

Second, China as a rice-consuming country is characterized by large folate deficiencies and high NTD prevalence rates. Each year, about 18,000 pregnancies in China are affected. Because of significant differences in rice consumption, folate status and the prevalence of NTDs between the northern and southern regions, a regional comparison of the health impact of folate biofortification in China will further underpin its evaluation. Shanxi Province for instance, has one of he highest reported NTD prevalence rates in the world, in part because folate intake levels are sub-optimal.

The DALYs method to quantify the burden of a disease as a single index (that is, the number of DALYs lost) can be used to. This number equals the sum of the 'years lived with disability' and 'years of life lost', which represent disability-weighted morbidity and cause-specific mortality, respectively. We use this approach to estimate the current burden of the functional outcomes of folate deficiency in a scenario with or without biofortified rice.

Because of the lack of data on the contribution of folate deficiency to other folate-related health outcomes, only NTDs are included as functional outcomes in this impact study. NTDs result in malformations of the spine (e. g. , spina bifida), skull and brain (e. g. , anencephaly and encephalocele), which can be both fatal and nonfatal and are considered to be the world's most common congenital malformations (responsible for one-third of all stillbirths in China).

On the basis of a folic acid supplementation study among pregnant women it has been estimated that women in northern and southern China are able to reduce the risk of having a baby with an NTD by 85% and 40%, respectively,

if they comply with the recommended intake of 400 ? g of folate. In other words, 85% and 40% of all NTDs are attributable to folate deficiency in northern and southern China, respectively. Application of the DALY approach shows that the current burden of folate deficiency in China amounts to a loss of 314,180 DALYs per year, of which 72. 5% is caused by NTD mortality.

Although northeast China has the highest number of DALYs lost, the burden of disease is relatively higher in the northwest (that is, when DALYs are expressed per 10,000 persons). On a regional basis, the current situation is most problematic in Shanxi (northeast), Gansu (northwest), Anhui (southeast) and Guizhou (southwest) According to a low- and a high-impact scenario, implementing folate-biofortified rice in China would save, respectively, 116,090 and 257,345 DALYs per year.

The health benefits of folate-enriched rice in China are based on daily folate intakes that are significantly higher than the recommended intake of 400 ? g to tackle maternal folate deficiency and the associated risk of having a baby with an NTD caused by folate deficiency. Although rice consumption and daily folate intake in the northern regions are generally lower than in the south, the required daily folate intake can still be achieved if folate-biofortified rice is consumed. This explains the higher number of DALYs saved in high NTD risk regions, such as northeast and northwest China.

The findings support folate biofortification of rice as a valuable strategy to reduce folate deficiency and its main adverse health outcome, NTDs. Especially in poor, rural regions where other interventions have little chance of success; folate-biofortified rice seems to be an effective, complementary approach

to address folate deficiency. To further improve the evaluation of the health benefits of folate-biofortified staple crops, research is needed to determine the nonlinear relationship between folate deficiency and NTDs and the contribution of folate deficiency to other health outcomes.