Rey spent fifteen years at Calgene, which developed the Flavr Savr tomato and was later acquired by Monsanto. His consulting company, Arcadia, whose 75 scouts research institutions for new technologies in order to develop and eventually license them, signed an agreement a few years ago giving Monsanto rights to commercialize a nitrogen-efficient technology for canola. (So far, Arcadia has nine technologies underway, including “salt-tolerant plants, safflower oil enhanced with omega-6 fatty acids and tomatoes with a longer shelf life.”)

In northern China, where the average farm size is less than one acre, water is limited and the soil is nutrient-poor. As a result, farmers use enormous amounts of fertilizers to increase their rice yield. It sounded like a market that was ripe for Rey, but he still faced the biggest problem for biotech companies with an eye on China: making money. “Chinese farmers tend to save seed from harvest to replant the following year,” notes the article. “Others save seeds and repackage them illegally to sell on the black market. Both practices deny biotech companies their main source of revenue—a fresh supply of seeds that must be bought or licensed each year.”

Rey’s solution is to charge farmers the same price as for regular seeds, but also for half of the carbon credits generated by their reduced fertilizer use (even though they, technically, are making that money themselves). “This gives farmers an incentive not to cheat: the more of his rice seed they plant, the less fertilizer they use and the more everyone gets to cash in.”  

Bioengineered foods are still relatively rare in China, which has approved cotton and some minor food crops like sweet peppers and tomatoes, but has nixed genetically modified seeds for major food crops like corn and soybeans. However, Rey is optimistic about the future.

Why do genetically modified foods seem like a better idea to me when they do things like reduce greenhouse gases? Is my judgment clouding over?