Bangladesh is about to become the first country to allow the cultivation of genetically modified golden rice

Soon. Scientists have said that for a long time, when asked when the yellow rice variety, a new genetically modified (GM) crop, was approved to help prevent blindness and death in children in countries. developing.

20 years ago, since the first time rice was known, it has always been the focus of the debate about genetically modified crops .

Advocates see yellow rice as an example of the potential benefit of modifying crop genes for all of humanity. Opponents criticize it as a risky and unnecessary test to improve the health of people in developing countries.

While the controversy is still ongoing, it seems that Bangladesh is about to become the first country to officially approve the cultivation of golden rice. ' It must be said that we have crossed the line ,' said Johnathan Napier, a plant biotechnology at Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, UK.

If all goes well, yellow rice will begin to be distributed to Bangladeshi farmers, and they can grow it in the 2021 crop.

Bangladesh is about to become the first country to allow the cultivation of genetically modified yellow rice to combat blindness.

Golden rice has been developed since the late 1990s by two German botanists, Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer . Their goal when creating this rice is to fight vitamin A deficiency, a leading cause of blindness for children. In addition, low levels of vitamin A also contribute to an increased risk of death from infectious diseases such as measles.

In fact, there are many other foods like sweet potatoes and spinach that also contain a lot of vitamin A. But in some countries, especially those where people eat rice as a major food source, there is a shortage. Vitamin A deficiency is still very common. In Bangladesh, it still affects about 21% of children.

Golden rice grains were created by Potrykus and Beyer by transplanting the corn beta-carotene gene to rice. This idea was realized with the help of Syngenta, a giant Swedish agrochemical company.

After successful development, Potrykus and Beyer donated their transgenic plants to public agricultural institutes in many countries around the world. This has allowed researchers from all over the world to select and cross yellow rice into rice varieties suitable to their tastes and cultivation conditions in each country and each locality.

Over the past two years, regulators in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia have approved regulations allowing gold consumption. Although these countries do not plan to grow genetically modified rice, their consumption approval will prevent problems that arise when yellow rice somehow somehow appears on their market. .

Golden rice has been developed since the late 1990s by twoGerman botanists, Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer.

Golden rice varieties being considered for approval for cultivation in Bangladesh were created at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Philippines. Scientists here have inserted beta-carotene genes into a rice variety called dhan 29 .

The main rice in the dry season is still widely planted in Bangladesh, contributing about 14% of the national rice production. In a series of experiments in different regions, scientists from the country's Rice Research Institute (BRRI) found that the new rice variety did not face any farming challenges in Bangladesh.

Its quality is no different from that of the old dhan 29, except for the increased vitamin A content.

BRRI sent data to Bangladesh Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in November 2017. A team of 8 officials and scientists from the Biosafety Committee reviewed the environmental risks of the variety. rice, such as its ability to become weed, as well as food safety issues.

To date, the evaluation process is almost complete. On October 28, the Bangladeshi Tribune reported that the decision would be made before November 15. The deadline is now one week overdue, but the delay appears to be due to the death of a committee member. .

A source familiar with the matter said some of their members were still skeptical about yellow rice and wondered: Why is it necessary to have yellow rice when people can also eat more vegetables to prevent vitamin A deficiency?

However, the majority of the discussion is quite optimistic. Scientific evidence strongly supports yellow rice. In the past, the Bangladesh committee also approved another genetically modified crop. Compared to it, the golden rice receives even more political support in Bangladesh, the source said.

If all goes well, yellow rice will begin to be distributed to Bangladeshi farmers, and they can grow it right in the 2021 crop.

" We hope that the golden rice can soon get a green light ," said Arif Hossain, director of Dhaka-based farming group Farming Future, Bangladesh. Farming Future Bangladesh has been funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. support to advise policy makers in Bangladesh in the field of biotechnology.

According to the plan, after the yellow rice is signed by the Ministry of the Environment, it must be further registered at a seed certification agency in the Ministry of Agriculture, requiring further field trials in many places to check. seed quality. If all goes well, Bangladeshi farmers can start planting golden rice by 2021.

Will gold rice be widely grown here in Bangladesh? It is still an uncertain thing. In 2014, Bangladeshi farmers quickly introduced genetically engineered eggplant varieties to combat insect pests. Even in the crop of that year, it worked and the farmers reduced the amount of insecticide.

Agricultural economist Justus Wesseler from Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands said the health benefits of yellow rice would appear more slowly. The government of Bangladesh may need to take measures to promote yellow rice, even subsidizing the farmers who grow the rice.

Sherry Tanumihardjo, a researcher on vitamin A and global health at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, shared another challenge: whether gold rice will be well received by consumers.

" People have a hard time when the color of the food they eat changes " and many people in Bangladesh like to eat white rice, Tanumihardjo said. However, yellow rice when cooked is said to resemble khichuri, a popular dish of rice and lentils cooked with turmeric. That could be a plus point for its appeal.

The only thing that could hinder the introduction of yellow rice to Bangladesh farmers is opposition from some non-governmental organizations. Last month, two groups at the Bangladesh Agricultural Labor Federation and the National Women's Federation of Farmers & Labor Women called for a ban on both new yellow rice varieties and transgenic eggplants in 2014.

Golden rice is expected to help children in rural areas and cities in Bangladesh have high rates of poverty and malnutrition without vitamin A deficiency.

But with the support of the Gates Foundation, IRRI and BRRI have now developed a strategy to distribute golden rice to rural areas and cities in Bangladesh with high rates of poverty and malnutrition.

If this golden rice variety successfully enters Bangladesh, other varieties of gold that are refined to better adapt to the local climate will follow. Propagated at BRRI, these new rice varieties are now being tested in a greenhouse.

Like all local versions of yellow rice, these varieties are created not by genetic engineering, but by traditional crossbreeding, so they probably won't need biosecurity approvals. .

But right now, all eyes are on the dhan 29. " It's great to see it approved ," Napier said. " A new era is about to be opened."

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