Reuters: The Philippines may follow China as the next Asian country to approve widespread planting of genetically modified rice crops, possibly as early as 2011, an industry expert said on Tuesday.
The Philippines, the world's largest rice importer, is one of several countries currently in field tests for GMO rice crops, Robert Zeigler, director general of the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), said at the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit.
Golden Rice, a Vitamin A-enriched grain developed by the IRRI is being bred into local varieties as well in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Vietnam as part of testing to ensure safety, he said.
"There's some possibility that it would be the Philippines that will get approval next, for Golden Rice. Probably late 2011 or early 2012," Zeigler said.
"Bangladesh will follow very shortly thereafter and India, probably a year or two later."
China approved the safety of a locally developed insect-resistant Bt strain of rice last November, opening the door to widespread introduction of the GMO crop within about three years.
With a gene bank of around 100,000 rice varieties, IRRI breeds high-yielding strains of rice to meet growing demand.
The institute kickstarted the Green Revolution in the 1960s that boosted harvests of the staple food for nearly half the world's 6.8 billion population.Read the full story.
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