It is well known that soya originated in China and has a cultivation history spanning over 5,000 years. Wild soya was domesticated by the country’s earliest inhabitants, who turned it into a staple and a main source of protein. Confucius said, “… eating soybean, drinking water and being happy, this is piety.” Arguably China has nurtured soya and soya has helped to nurture the Chinese people. Today, soya is still a major crop in China, grown by more than 40 million farmers.

China is the centre of diversity for soya, with 23,587 varieties of cultivated soya and 6,100 varieties of G. soja, an ancestral relative of the soya. China has more soya varieties than anywhere else in the world. The genetic diversity of soya is a global heritage and vital to the sustainable development of agriculture.

However, the homeland of soya is facing the risk of contamination by genetically engineered (GE) soya. GE soya is banned from being growing in China, but imports of GE soya are rising. Last year China imported a record-high of 20 million tons of soya and it is estimated that 70% was GE soya. Every grain of GE soya is a seed, and if planted in farms, will multiply and spread. Mexico, the homeland of maize, has already suffered the contamination of maize by imported GE maize from the U.S. If we do not take action now, the homeland of soya will soon face irreversible contamination.

Please help Greenpeace to protect the homeland of soya from repeating the nightmare of contamination!