Rice News 4

th
sep.2014

Asian Farmers, Organizations, Scientists Protest GM
Golden Rice

Rice-producing Asian countries protest against commercializing of GMO rice
Fotolia/ mamamiapl
15:39 03/09/2014
Tags: GMO, farmers, rice, Asia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia

MOSCOW, September 3 (RIA Novosti) - Farmers, sectoral organizations and scientists from
rice-producing Asian countries are protesting further field testing and attempts to
commercialize Golden Rice, a genetically modified variety of rice, Health Impact News
reported.We want to protect our rights against the contamination of our rice varieties, the
health of our people and the environment. It is the plan of IRRI [International Rice
Research Institute] to contaminate our rice with the privately owned Golden Rice, making
us subservient to the interests of huge corporations. The truths are, there are lots existing
solutions to fight Vitamin A deficiency, spokesman Bert Autor of SIKWAL-GMO, an
alliance of farmers and organizations against GMOs in Bicol, the Philippines, was quoted as
saying by Health Impact News.There are food sources rich in Vitamin A and are readily
available. Also why not focus on giving land to the landless farmers? A lot of farmers cannot
participate in increasing food security of the country as most of them do not own the land
they till. We do not need Golden Rice, it is but a distraction to attaining food security and
agricultural development, Autor added.Farmers across Asia argue genetically modified rice
varieties such as Golden Rice not only threaten public health, but also contaminate local rice
varieties with unknown ecological effects, Health Impact News reported. Protesters claim
the project is a ploy to allow transnational agribusinesses to increase control over food
production and agriculture.Golden Rice is transgenic rice containing beta carotene, an
alleged solution to Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), revived in the mid-2000s by a $2 billion
investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project has already completed
field trials in the Philippines and is awaiting the collation of data for regulatory approval.
After approval, feed testing on humans will commence.
Both the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Philippine Rice Research
Institute (PhilRice) of the Department of Agriculture are proponents of the project that
plans to commercialize Golden Rice by 2016. In addition to the Philippines, Golden Rice is
being field tested in Indonesia and Bangladesh.



Sandip Roy: Rice Bucket Challenge
By Sandip Roy


Shiva Shankar from Hyderabad gets his niece Vaishnavi from Pune to donate rice to a woman who works there
Rice Bucket Challenge Facebook page
Dispatch from Kolkata for Sept. 3, 2014

Journalist Manju Latha Kalanidhi in the city of Hyderabad. Says the ice bucket challenge left her cold.
Kalanidhi, who works for a rice research website decided instead of aping the Ice Bucket challenge, she
could do something a little more Indian and a little less wasteful.
She came up with the Rice Bucket challenge. Take some rice. Give it to a needy person. And challenge
your friends to do the same.
Sandip Roy investigates the latest social ,media challenge and finds out what all this 'Rice' is about.
Tags: ice bucket challenge,ice bucket, rice bucket, rice bucket challenge,Manju Latha Kalanidhi

For a second rice revolution
Better seeds and cultivation methods can be a game-changer
R Gopalakrishnan
September 4, 2014 Last Updated at 21:48 IST
he last few columns on innovation covered diverse aspects and examples of innovation. The one on
public sanitation demonstrated the endless nature of innovation ("'Neat and clean' innovation", April
18), the drama of gas fracking showed how known ideas can coalesce to yield a new idea ("Time,
patience & innovation", May 16), the emergence of e-mail showed how many are involved in
building the innovation "cathedral", so many that it is unclear who built the cathedral ("The 'I' factor
in innovation", June 13), and the connection between foreign direct investment and innovation showed
how ideas flow across borders without visas and passports ("Innovation across borders", August 8).
As several readers commented, innovation even in very old subjects goes on and on like a spaghetti.
This is absolutely true as shown by the example this month of rice.Rice is the highest
produced cereal consumed by human beings. About half of the global population derives its core
calorie intake from rice. In Africa, where one in three people depends on rice, the demand for rice is
growing at 20 per cent per annum. Rice is a deeply emotional subject all over Asia. Much rice grows
in the rich valleys of the Himalayan river systems such as the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy and
Mekong. In India, rice connotes religious and spiritual attributes, for example, anna daata and anna
praasanam. Even Honda and Toyota, which are car brand names mean rice fields in Japanese.
Imagine an Indian car with the brand name Chawal.Asia grows 90 per cent of the world's rice and
the per capita consumption of rice is flat. This means that as the productivity of growing rice
improves, the Asian population also increases by the same amount. Rice also consumes a
disproportionate amount of water, which is becoming scarce all over the world. So, the world faces
a twin challenge with rice: need for higher productivity but using less water.A revolution in rice
production can occur by producing better seeds or through better cultivation methods. The
combination can deliver fantastic results. For sure, the world is seeking a second rice
revolution.Seeds: In the 1960s, a revolution in seeds occurred through high yielding varieties,
followed by hybrid seeds. Traditional rice is a tall plant with a small grain and lots of body. In strong
breeze, the plant sways and loses the grain. To solve the problem, either the root system could be
strengthened or the plant could be made short and stocky. The discovery of a "short rice" variety in
the fields of Taiwan helped produce dwarf rice on a big scale.In the journey for better seeds,
genetic modification arrived as a technique. Rice is the first cereal whose genome sequence has
been cracked by science. Genome is a bit like the book of life. This book is in a language that has
only four letters, A, G, C and T. "Codons" are formed by a combination of three of these four letters,
each codon determining the building block of proteins. In rice, the genome consists of over 20,000
genes, which means that the code is now known for proteins that are involved in determining all
aspects of growth and development. If a scientist wishes to make a drought-resistant rice, he or she
knows which paragraph has to be modified or re-written. Likewise, with flood-resistant and salt-
resistant rice.In 2000, Science magazine published a paper about "Golden Rice", a genetically
modified rice with beta-carotene (Vitamin A) in the polished grain. With subsequent developments, it
is possible to increase up to 23 times the level of this desirable beta carotene; golden rice is now a
very potent tool to address the Vitamin A deficiency problem plaguing many parts of the world.

System: Apart from developing new rice varieties and hybrids, the system of growing rice has also
attracted innovation. For centuries, the farmer was not too concerned about water or labour
intensity. He would plant the seedlings in a nursery. After a few weeks, when the plant is prone to
weed attack, he would flood the nursery with water. After the plant's delicate phase concludes, it is
replanted into the normal field and tended for the next several weeks. This process has been
developed over centuries and is considered robust, but it consumes lots of water and is quite labour-
intensive.

In 1961, a Jesuit Father Henri de Laulanie, moved from France to Madagascar to work with the
farmers there. He spent the next 34 years working there. In 1981, he established an agricultural
school. Through his work and some serendipity, the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), was
invented. Whenever such a process is established, discipline and order also contribute to the
increased yield. The disciplined and orderly approach, along with a reorganisation of the way
resources (rice plant, soil, water and nutrients) are utilised, contributes greatly to the higher yield.

However, the view that there is higher productivity is contested. A group of scientists believes that it
is the additional care bestowed that gives more yield and not any science.

It is estimated that globally over five million farmers have already adopted SRI cultivation. In the 50
countries where SRI has been tried, 30-40 per cent saving of water has been demonstrated. Due to
better husbanding of resources, the yield per hectare has doubled. SRI has thus become a poster
boy for "more from less" and can justifiably claim to be a "climate-friendly, green rice." Imagine the
potential of such rice to save water and to deliver the marketing position of being an environment-
friendly rice. In the consumer atmosphere of a rapidly urbanising India, this holds promise.

ITI and ATI: Over the years, like other agencies, Rallis India has deployed agricultural training
institutes (ATIs), somewhat akin to the industrial training institutes (ITIs) for industrial skills training.
The company experience has pointed to the need for skill training in agriculture just like unskilled
industrial labour is prepared for industrial work in an automated factory. Here are the early lessons:
first, an attitudinal and habit shift in the farming technique is required of the farmer; second, SRI
involves skills in using mechanised transplanters (unskilled farm labour cannot implement SRI), so
an intense re-skilling of the farmer is essential. Third, the package of practices must be closely
taught by the SRI-promoting agency. The yield increases only with a confluence of all the factors of
production.

However, whether with genetically modified seeds or SRI cultivation, the path to paradise is strewn
with purgatory and pain. But this is true of all innovation, is it not?



Unedited version by Riceplus Magazine
www.ricepluss.com