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Photos | Asian farmers, scientists want to stop Golden Rice


Farmers and scientists from different Asian countries united to stop genetically-modified “Golden Rice,” which is set to be commercialized first in the Philippines.

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Farmers and scientists from different Asian countries united to stop genetically-modified “Golden Rice,” which is set to be commercialized first in the Philippines. In a press conference last April 30, they said that GM rice poses significant health and environmental hazards, and that there are abundant natural sources of Vitamin A. Golden Rice, developed by the Swiss transnational Syngenta, is genetically modified to contain Vitamin A. Macky Macaspac
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Farmers help a picket in front of the Department of Agriculture (DA) office in Quezon City to oppose Golden Rice. They say that it puts rice, the most staple food in Asia, under the control of a few biotech companies. It will increase the production costs for already impoverished rice farmers, who will become dependent on GM seeds. Golden Rice also threatens to contaminate and destroy traditional rice varieties developed by farmers for centuries, they said. Last year, farmers in Camarines Sur uprooted Golden Rice in field trials by the DA, in an attempt to stop its commercialization. Macky Macaspac

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