For more than a decade, Filipinos tested genetically modified golden rice before granting it marketing authorization. The modification is intended to enrich rice with vitamin A. The Philippines is also one of the largest importers of rice in the world.
The Philippines is the first country in the world to give green genetically modified rice an enrichment with vitamin A that can be used for commercial cultivation and marketing. This was stated by Reuters with reference to the International Institute for Rice Research.
Biosafety has been confirmed by the local Ministry of Agriculture. The so-called golden rice will be used primarily in areas where the population is deficient in vitamin A, until the third quarter of next year. Only then will the rice be available to the general public.
Originally, genetically modified rice was supposed to have been approved in the Philippines ten years ago, but the crop has faced public health concerns. Growers of classic rice do not like modified rice either, as it represents unwelcome competition for them. The Philippine Ministry of Agriculture denies that the genetically modified rice posed any risks to the health of the population.
