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Golden rice and the struggle over genetically modified food Cameroon: Improved Rice Varieties for Specific Zones Vulnerability window Cameroon: Improved Rice Varieties for Specific Zones Bangladesh seeks to supply rice to northeast India: Tripura minister Climate change may fall rice production by half Rice farmers learn latest on disease
NEWS DETAILS: Golden rice and the struggle over genetically modified food Friday 29 August 2014 12:14PM Cathy Pryor and Michael Mackenzie IMAGE: PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGIST DR. SWAPAN DATTA INSPECTS A GENETICALLY MODIFIED 'GOLDEN RICE' PLANT AT THE INTERNATIONAL RICE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (IRRI) (DAVID GREEDY/GETTY IMAGES) As the world grapples with malnutrition and famine, some scientists argue that biofortifying food through GM technology is the only way to save millions of lives, but is GM technology safe and should it be embraced by all humanity?Cathy Pryor and Michael Mackenzie report.
In a lab in far north Queensland, a team of scientists headed by distinguished professor James Dale has for the past decade been diligently working on a fruit that some have dubbed a ‗super banana‘.I think the ethical question would be ―did the researchers knowingly withhold information on a part of the study that would potentially adversely affect the health of their children?‖ The answer to that is clearly no.Grown in field trials in
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Innisfail, the banana has been genetically modified using genes from a vitamin A rich banana native to Papua New Guinea. The aim was to produce a banana so rich in alpha and beta-carotene (sources of vitamin A) it could alleviate chronic deficiencies in countries like Uganda.
Vitamin A deficiency, according to the World Health Organisation, is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children and is a contributor to other potentially fatal illnesses such as measles. It has until now been tackled through vitamin supplements and fortifying food in developing nations, but for the past three decades scientists around the world have been racing to produce staple foods such as bananas, potatoes and rice that have heightened levels of alpha and beta-carotene through genetic manipulation.
Professor Dale, from the Queensland University of Technology, has in the past few months seen his bananas, resplendent with their bright orange flesh, sent to the University of Iowa in the United States for human feeding trials, with volunteers reportedly paid $900 each for their efforts. Animal testing on Mongolian gerbils, animals that mimic the human intake of vitamin A, has already shown great success, but the US trials will determine whether the higher levels of beta-carotene found in the banana can in fact be converted to vitamin A by the human body.On the other side of the world, Gianfranco Diretto, a research scientist at the Italian Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Development, has been working on increasing the beta-carotene levels in other foods. For tomatoes, the gene comes from grass, while potatoes have had a synthetic gene inserted. These ‗golden‘ potatoes and tomatoes also have a different colour; with white potatoes turning yellow and the red flesh of the tomato becoming more orange.The research has taken its cues from ‗golden rice‘, a food long considered the poster child of genetic engineering, or the enemy within—depending on which side of the GM fence you sit. Started in the 1980s with the backing of the Rockefeller Institute, the golden rice project has had a long road to hoe. Listen: Organic food industry at a standstill due to certified grain shortage
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Organisations such as Greenpeace are vehemently opposed to golden rice, arguing that the benefits of the food haven‘t been proved and that its adoption could open the way for other GM foods with social and environmental side effects. However, one of the founders of Greenpeace, Dr Patrick Moore, who left the organisation in 1986, is now spearheading an international media campaign championing golden rice. He claims Greenpeace and others are ‗committing crimes against humanity‘ by opposing technology that he believes could save millions of lives.‗If Golden Rice shows that GMOs can be good for humanity, then maybe it will end this ridiculous sensationalism and fear mongering about genetic modification which is based on nothing,‘ he says.‗That‘s why they invent terms like Frankenstein seeds, killer tomato, terminator seed. These are all borrowed from scary Hollywood movies and are based on fiction ... It makes GM seem scary when in fact GM is friendly. So friendly, in fact, that it could save two million people from dying every year with one genetic modification in rice.‘So what is it about GM technology that still divides opinion so fiercely? Could GM foods really be the answer, or could the same results be achieved through more conventional breeding methods? Dr Michael Hansen, a senior scientist with the Consumers Union in the US, is one who questions the efficacy of the golden rice research, arguing that scientists initially used the wrong kind of rice—concentrating on japonica varieties that are eaten in countries such as Japan, instead of the indica varieties that are eaten in vitamin A deficient countries such as India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.He also argues that human feeding trials on adults and children were not conducted in the same conditions under which rice would normally be consumed, harvested and stored. Dr Bob Zeigler, director of the International Rice Research Institute, the organisation that is conducting field trials of golden rice in the Philippines, refutes these suggestion that the wrong varieties of rice have been used, and says that indica varieties have been used in research for a number of years. He admits that beta-carotene levels do decrease over time, he says they have had good results in rice that has been stored for at least three months.
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While Dr Zeigler does admit that more work has to be done to improve yields, with the latest field trials showing ‗mixed‘ results and lower yields than non-GM varieties, he says the science has shown without doubt that eating golden rice improves vitamin A levels for those who need it.However, that research is not without its own controversy. By far the most damning episode for golden rice has been the fallout from feeding trials involving children in China, led by Dr Guangwen Tang, a researcher based at Tufts University in the US. Last year the university acknowledged the researcher had failed to properly inform parents in China that their children were eating GMO foods. Tang has now hired a lawyer and is suing the university and the American Society of Nutrition, claiming moves to retract her paper is tantamount to defamation. IMAGE: GOLDEN RICE GRAIN COMPARED TO WHITE RICE GRAIN IN SCREENHOUSE OF GOLDEN RICE PLANTS. (PART OF THE IMAGE COLLECTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL RICE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (IRRI). FLICKR.COM/CC/BY-NC-SA/2.0) While his organisation was not involved in the feeding trials in China, Dr Zeigler defends the ethics of the study, arguing that there are no safety concerns surrounding golden rice, and therefore there is no case to answer.‗I think the ethical question would be, ―did the researchers knowingly withhold information on a part of the study that would potentially adversely affect the health of their children?‖ The answer to that is clearly no.‘ Dr Hansen, however, says the issues surrounding golden rice go to the heart of the debate over GM technology. He questions whether proper safety assessments have been made on the impact of feeding vitamin A enriched foods to adults and children. Although scientists involved in the research argue that any extra vitamin A the body does not need is expelled, Hansen says he would like to see further tests done to prove there can be no toxic side effects. ‗That was the one thing that was scandalous about golden rice and even these bananas,‘ he says.‗They are being fed to people when there has never been a published study showing that these things are safe or meet the criteria
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of reasonable certainty of no harm, and yet they are being used in these feeding studies . If you are doing informed consent with those populations how do you do that when there is no published information about the potential safety?‘ Dr Patrick Moore, for his part, lists a string of health and scientific organisations which he says support the safety of GMO foods. However, on the specific issue of golden rice and its potential to combat vitamin A deficiencies, the World Health Organisation will not be drawn, simply stating it ‗has no position on golden rice‘. Dr Hansen argues the same results in combating vitamin A and other deficiencies could be achieved by biofortifying food through non-GM methods, and he points to US based organisation Harvest Plus, which has been doing just that.Dr Howarth Bouis, the director of Harvest Plus, lists seven crops his organisation has been working on, including a sweet potato in Uganda that has had promising results when it comes to boosting vitamin A levels. However even Dr Bouis, who also sits on the humanitarian board of the golden rice project, says he is not against GM technology. The choice to avoid it was simply a pragmatic one.‗We don‘t consider GMOs dangerous, but we know there is a lot of political opposition to the use of GMOs so we didn‘t want to use [them] and then find out we had to put our varieties on the shelf,‘ he says.‗We knew we could do a lot of good with conventional plant breeding so we decided to invest in that.‘ Take your place at the table and enjoy a First Bite of the cultural, social, scientific, historical and sensual world of food.
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Cameroon: Improved Rice Varieties for Specific Zones By Godlove Bainkong The Agricultural Research Institute for Development (IRAD) and its development partner, AfricaRice, have identified three rice production zones in Cameroon with specific species which could be publicized to step up quality and quantity production in the country. Which are the Hubs? Researchers say the country has three strategic regions for rice development where rice research products and innovations are integrated across the rice value chain to create outcomes and impact. These include Ndop notably with the Upper Nun Valley Development Authority (UNVDA) and the North with Lagdo Rice Development Corporation (SEMRY) and the emerging Mbam hub in the Centre Region. Which Specie For What Zone? According to Dorothy Malaa, Coordinator of Rice Project at IRAD, before the 70s, there were some rice species like upland rice (today Madame Blanche) and when UNVDA and SEMRY came in they brought in new varieties like Irri 46 in SEMRY, Tox 34, 35 in Ndop, Ita 222, Sica 8 and 4, IRAD 112 and many other species. All these have yields of one metric ton per hectare. She said the birth of New Rice for Africa (Nerica) was to solve the problem that the other species had as they were imported and not well adapted to the African conditions. Nerica is high yielding, disease and drought resistant. "The farmer did varietal selection and coincidentally, they came up with some common species where in the Western highland (Ndop plain) they selected Nerica L 42 and 56 for lowland that yield above six metric tons per hectare, in the northern part of the country, they selected Nerica L 36 and 60 that as well yield above six metric tons per hectares. The latest technology that research introduced in 2008 was the upland rice which could be grown anywhere. Here, they selected Nerica 3, 8, 9 and 13 and that is what is currently being promoted across the country. The peculiarity of Nerica, researchers noted, is that it takes only three months from when it is planted to when it is harvested given that its roots do not sink deep and can be grown on dry ground. It does not necessarily need irrigation given the country's abundant rainfall. What Publicity Strategy? Actors have come up with "Cameroon Rice Hubs Partners Programme" which targets a widespread propagation of research products. Speaking during their meeting in Yaounde on Wednesday August 27, the Programme's National Coordinator, Dr Francis Ngome Ajebesone, said the programme "intends to train farmers on good rice production and processing practices (how to prepare their land, plant and when to harvest."
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Vulnerability window By Juan L. Mercado |Philippine Daily Inquirer 12:07 am | Saturday, August 30th, 2014 ―Talk does not cook rice.‖ That proverb does not refer to Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is twisting in the wind for the overpriced Makati parking building. It is tailor-fit for Sen. Cynthia Villar, who chairs the committee on agriculture.Villar groused, in an address at the International Rice Research Institute (Irri) in Los Baños, that action is overdue on ―Golden Rice.‖ The staple grain often flicks open a window of vulnerability to Vitamin A shortfalls. Golden Rice shows promise that it can curb deficits that afflict 1.7 million of malnourished preschool kids. That is compounded by one of every five lactating mothers. About 19 million pregnant women are affected, and so are the kids gestating in their wombs. Those who survive often have hobbled IQs. ―Their elevators will never reach top floor.‖Sure, Villar was preaching to the choir. The Irri is a codeveloper of Golden Rice, along with the government-run Philippine Rice Research Institute. But her assertion is valid. In Asia, ―it is rice or nothing. And if there are problems with rice, there are problems with everything,‖ including riots. Demand for rice is rising due to population growth. Rice yields are rising, too—but at barely half that pace.The Golden Rice project tries to genetically lace additional Vitamin A into the grain. It was started in 1993 by researchers with funding from Rockefeller Foundation. Food and environment safety procedures are overseen by the government, including the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines and the Bureau of Plant Industry.Five trial plots of Golden Rice in Bicol were vandalized by 400 protesters in 2013, reports BBC environment correspondent Matt McGrath. The crop was ―weeks away from being submitted for a safety evaluation.‖ The attackers were members of a group called Sikwal-GMO. The alliance between rice breeders and nutritionists may seem odd, writes Robert Zeigler of the Irri. As a rice breeder in Colombia with Rockefeller Foundation in the 1950s, Peter Jennings knew that Vitamin A deficiency was a scourge.―[Jennings] found that a yellow rice grain would most likely carry beta carotene. A yellow plant pigment that humans convert into Vitamin A in their food.‖ Jennings never tracked the pigment in global collections of rice. Mutating millions of plants failed.―The only path to getting yellow rice, later dubbed ‗Golden Rice,‘ was to engineer it using genetic modification.‖ The teamwork of Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer eventually created, in 1999, the prototype of a genetically modified Golden Rice.Vitamin A deficiency is the No. 1 cause of preventable blindness among children in developing countries. As many as 350,000 go blind every year. And it is most prevalent among young children and pregnant and nursing women. Vitamin A deficiency can impair vision and cause other sight problems. ―It can also be killing you.‖
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Golden Rice today packs beta carotene as additional source of Vitamin A in the diet of rice consumers worldwide. Research has shown that just one cup of Golden Rice a day can be enough to provide adults with half their daily needs of Vitamin A. ―So it could make a big difference to people‘s nutrition—and their sight.‖Anti-GM ―activists‖ vehemently oppose Golden Rice being approved for production by farmers. They claim it is a ―Trojan Horse‖ technology that would open the doors to the release of other genetically modified crops.If Golden Rice effectively reduces blindness, disease and death caused by Vitamin A deficiency in millions of rice consumers, will it pave the way for other GM food crops that may be healthier for people and good for the environment? Therefore, must we stop Golden Rice before it is too late? ―The cynicism astounds even a crusty old bird like me,‖ adds Zeigler.The surviving mainstream argument against GM crops has boiled down to concerns over corporate control of agriculture and seed supply. ―This is a legitimate [issue] and worthy of debate and action.‖But Golden Rice was developed by public-sector scientists using public funds. Private entities that hold patents on technologies used to develop Golden Rice have made these available freely for this purpose.―Please explain to me why ‗activists‘ should block a technology developed by the public sector. Why should they hold the world‘s poor hostage over a fight about private control of agriculture in rich countries?‖ There is not enough information to decide if these crops are safe, they claim. Yet they destroy the trials designed to provide the very answers they are demanding. ―Could it be that they do not want to see the answers?‖ ―There‘s so much misinformation floating around taken as fact by people,‖ said Michael D. Purugganan, dean of science at New York University. ―The genes they inserted to make the vitamin are not some weird manufactured material, but are also found in squash, carrots and melons.‖ Raised in a middle-class family in Manila, Purugganan felt compelled to weigh in on Golden Rice. ―A lot of the criticism of GMOs in the Western world suffers from a lack of understanding of how really dire the situation is in developing countries.‖Golden Rice appeared on Time magazine‘s cover in 2000, ―before it was quite ready for prime time,‖ noted the New York Times (Aug. 24, 2013). It is not owned by any company but is being developed by the nonprofit Irri. At stake in this controversy ―is not just the future of bio-fortified rice but also a rational means to evaluate a technology whose potential to improve nutrition … may otherwise go unrealized.‖ ***
Cameroon: Improved Rice Varieties for Specific Zones By Godlove Bainkong
The Agricultural Research Institute for Development (IRAD) and its development partner, AfricaRice, have identified three rice production zones in Cameroon with specific species which could be publicized to step up quality and quantity production in the country. Which are the Hubs?
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Researchers say the country has three strategic regions for rice development where rice research products and innovations are integrated across the rice value chain to create outcomes and impact. These include Ndop notably with the Upper Nun Valley Development Authority (UNVDA) and the North with Lagdo Rice Development Corporation (SEMRY) and the emerging Mbam hub in the Centre Region. Which Specie For What Zone? According to Dorothy Malaa, Coordinator of Rice Project at IRAD, before the 70s, there were some rice species like upland rice (today Madame Blanche) and when UNVDA and SEMRY came in they brought in new varieties like Irri 46 in SEMRY, Tox 34, 35 in Ndop, Ita 222, Sica 8 and 4, IRAD 112 and many other species. All these have yields of one metric ton per hectare. She said the birth of New Rice for Africa (Nerica) was to solve the problem that the other species had as they were imported and not well adapted to the African conditions. Nerica is high yielding, disease and drought resistant. "The farmer did varietal selection and coincidentally, they came up with some common species where in the Western highland (Ndop plain) they selected Nerica L 42 and 56 for lowland that yield above six metric tons per hectare, in the northern part of the country, they selected Nerica L 36 and 60 that as well yield above six metric tons per hectares. The latest technology that research introduced in 2008 was the upland rice which could be grown anywhere. Here, they selected Nerica 3, 8, 9 and 13 and that is what is currently being promoted across the country. The peculiarity of Nerica, researchers noted, is that it takes only three months from when it is planted to when it is harvested given that its roots do not sink deep and can be grown on dry ground. It does not necessarily need irrigation given the country's abundant rainfall. What Publicity Strategy? Actors have come up with "Cameroon Rice Hubs Partners Programme" which targets a widespread propagation of research products. Speaking during their meeting in Yaounde on Wednesday August 27, the Programme's National Coordinator, Dr Francis Ngome Ajebesone, said the programme "intends to train farmers on good rice production and processing practices (how to prepare thir land, plant and when to harvest."
Bangladesh seeks to supply rice to northeast India: Tripura minister By Sujit Chakraborty
Agartala, Aug 30 (IANS): In one more sign of warming cross-border ties, Bangladesh says it is keen to supply rice to food-deficient northeastern states and can allow all its ports, in "mutual interest", to ferry goods bound for the region, a Tripura minister has said, quoting the Bangladeshi prime minister."Madam Hasina has proposed to supply rice to Tripura and other northeastern states if required," Tripura Industries and Commerce minister Tapan Chakraborty told IANS, referring to the assurance of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.The minister was a member of an Indian delegation led by Minister of State for External Affairs, General V.K. Singh (retd), that visited Bangladesh for a conclave earlier this week.
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"After attending the one-day conclave on India-Bangladesh trade and improving connectivity between the two countries, the Indian delegation met the Bangladeshi prime minister. During the meeting, Madam Hasina proposed to supply rice to Tripura and other northeastern states to meet their scarcities.""Madam Hasina categorically said that the Bangladesh government can allow all its ports including sea ports on mutual interest to transport goods from any part of India to the northeastern region via her country," Chakraborty added.In a first, a 5,000 tonnes consignment, of a total of 10,000 tonnes, of rice carried in small ships from Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh reached Ashuganj river port in (eastern) Bangladesh via Kolkata Aug 5. From Ashuganj, 40 km from Agartala, Bangladeshi trucks have been carrying the rice since Aug 7 to FCI warehouses in Nandannagar near here.In 2012, Bangladesh had allowed India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to ferry heavy machinery, turbines and cargo through Ashuganj port for the 726 MW Palatana mega power project in southern Tripura.The Indian government had spent several millions of rupees to develop the port and related infrastructure. Carrying of food, essentials and heavy machinery for several northeastern states via Bangladesh from different parts of India is much easier as surface connectivity is a key factor for the mountainous region, which is surrounded by Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and China. The only land corridor to the northeastern states from India is through Assam and West Bengal.For instance, Agartala via Guwahati is 1,650 km from Kolkata and 2,637 km from New Delhi, while the distance between Agartala and Kolkata via Bangladesh is just about 350 km.Tripura, Mizoram and a few other northeastern states have been pressing the Indian government to finalise a permanent multi-model transit route via Bangladesh to carry food, essentials and heavy machinery. "We have proposed a direct bus service between Agartala and Kolkata via Bangladesh. Discussions were also held about the development of infrastructure of the land customs stations along the India-Bangladesh border to further improve trade between Bangladesh and the northeastern states," Chakraborty said."The 70-km road between southern Tripura's border town Sabroom and Chittagong sea port has to be improved to carry men and material to and from India and Bangladesh," he added.The minister said that preliminary work has been completed to build a bridge over the Feni river to connect with the Chittagong international port in southeast Bangladesh."Tripura would be a gateway for northeastern states if access to Chittagong port was availed," the minister added. The Indian government has also undertaken a Rs.252- crore project to construct a 15-km track between Tripura's Agartala railway station and Akhaura railway junction in Bangladesh to open a new link between the two neighbours.The Indian Chamber of Commerce and the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in association with the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, organised the conclave earlier this
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week.Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pankaj Saran, ministers, officials and investors from Meghalaya, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura took part in the summit. Bangladesh shares a 4,097-km border with the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Mizoram and Meghalaya.
Climate change may fall rice production by half Speakers, at a workshop, said global warming and climate change may reduce rice yields by 50 percents in 2070.The workshop titled ―Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Rice Field: Finding Mitigation Options from Fertilizer Deep Placement and Alternative Wetting Drying‖ was held at BRRI in Gazipur on Wednesday.Director General of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) Dr Jiban Krishna Biswas said, ―Due to the impact of climate change rice production may be reduced to around 2 tonne per hectare in our country in 2017, which was 5.5 tonne per hectare in 2008.
‖ Experts are witnessing quick changes in the country's rice ecosystems due to climate changes, he added.Climate change factors such as salinity, flash floods, drought, cold waves, excessive heat, stagnant floods and tidal floods have been severely impacting rice production in the country, the BRRI DG noted. He further added that Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries of global warming and climate change, report oryza.com
BRRI DG also said the BRRI has been working closely with the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) under the Accelerating Agriculture Productivity Improvement (AAPI) project to reduce carbon emissions from rice fields as well as developing newer climate change, drought and salinity-tolerant rice varieties.
According to USDA, Bangladesh currently produces around 4.4 tons of paddy per hectare. USDA estimates Bangladesh to produce around 34.8 million tons of rice in MY 2014-15 (May - April), up about 1% from an estimated 34.59 million tons in MY 2013-14. It estimates Bangladesh to import around 100,000 tons of rice in 2015, down about 75% from an estimated 400,000 tons in 2014. The country's rice consumption needs are estimated at around 34.8 million tons in MY 2014-15 slightly up from an estimated 34.6 million tons in MY 2013-14.
Rice farmers learn latest on disease Daily Rice E-Newsletter by Rice Plus Magazine www.ricepluss.com News and R&D Section mujajhid.riceplus@gmail.com Cell # 92 321 369 2874
Bruce Schultz 10:30 a.m. CDT August 30, 2014
CROWLEY – LSU AgCenter scientists held a field tour at the Rice Research Station recently to discuss their work on controlling the major diseases that afflict rice.Clayton Hollier, AgCenter plant pathologist, said even varieties with the best resistance can be affected by disease."Resistance is not immunity," Hollier said.But, he said, resistance is likely to result in higher yields than varieties that are susceptible to diseases.Hollier said he is studying how different fungicide application times and planting dates could affect yields.He said Cercospora is an overlooked disease that damaged many crops in 2006. The disease known as narrow brown leaf spot is caused by Cercospora, he said, which overwinters in crop residue.Jong Ham, AgCenter plant pathologist, is studying ways of controlling bacterial panicle blight. He said biological controls that suppress development of the disease have been identified that will be studied. Jong Ham, LSU AgCenter plant pathologist, far left, talks about his work on the disease bacterial panicle blight. He said a number of different control measures are being studied to fight the disease on rice, but he said early planting and early harvest is a method of controlling the disease.(Photo: Bruce Schultz/LSU AgCenter) Ham said rice breeding includes development of resistant lines. He said the most resistant variety is the medium-grain Jupiter, developed at the Rice Research Station.But, he said, even a variety with bacterial panicle blight resistance will lose 10-15 percent of its yield if it is infected by the disease."It is a challenge to get resistance to all diseases," he said.Planting and harvesting early are keys to reducing the bacterial panicle blight problem, he said.Don Groth, AgCenter plant pathologist, discussed how the major varieties grown in the U.S. are affected by disease and how they respond to fungicide applications. He said he inoculates research plots with bacterial panicle blight and sheath blight, but not for blast because it is spread by wind, and he doesn't want to risk infecting nearby fields.
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