Farmers Rip Up Experimental Golden Rice Plants In The Philippines
A Rice Breeding Plot in the Philippine Rice Research Institute International Rice Research Institute As scientists prepare to submit the genetically engineered rice for regulatory approval, some locals protest. A decade and a half after it was first invented, genetically engineered rice may soon grow in farmer's fields for the first time, in the Philippines. Just as some in the U.S. oppose GMO technology, however, so do some Filipinos. After seeing the BBC's report this week that Philippine scientists are close to submitting golden rice-rice engineered to make vitamin A-for regulatory approval, I looked for local news on the development. Farmers entered test fields and ripped up 400 experimental plants, Philippine tabloid paper Remate reported yesterday. (It was all over in 15 minutes, Malaya Business Insight reports.) One of the farmers' worries is the cost of GMO seeds and the privatization of the nation's staple crop, spokesman Bert Autor told Remate....