Golden
rice has been heralded as the miracle cure for malnutrition and hunger of which
800m members of
the
human community suffer.
Herbicide
resistant and toxin producing genetically engineered plants can be
objectionable because of their
ecological
and social costs. But who could
possibly object to rice engineered to produce vitamin A, a
deficiency
found in nearly 3 million children, largely in the Third World?
As
remarked by Mary Lou Guerinot, the author of the Commentary on Vitamin A rice
in Science, one
can
only hope that this application of plant genetic engineering to ameliorate
human misery without regard
to
short term profit will restore this technology to political acceptability.
Unfortunately,
Vitamin A rice is a hoax, and will bring further dispute to plant genetic
engineering where
public
relations exercises seem to have replaced science in promotion of untested,
unproven and
unnecessary
technology.
The
problem is that vitamin A rice will not remove vitamin A deficiency (VAD). It will seriously
aggravate
it. It is a technology that fails in
its promise.
Currently,
it is not even known how much vitamin JA the genetically engineered rice will
produce. The
goal
is 33.3% micrograms/100g of rice. Even
if this goal is reached after a few years, it will be totally
ineffective
in removing VAD.
Since
the daily average requirement of vitamin A is 750 micrograms of vitamin A and 1
serving contains
30g
of rice according to dry weight basis, vitamin
A rice would only provide 9.9 micrograms which is
1.32%
of the required allowance. Even taking
the 100g figure of daily consumption of rice used in the
technology
transfer paper would only provide 4.4% of the RDA.
In
order to meet the full needs of 750 micrograms of vitamin A from rice, an adult
would have to
consume
2 kg 272g of rice per day. This implies
that one family member would consume the entire
family
ration of 10 kg. from the PDS in 4 days
to meet vitaminA needs through "Golden rice".
This
is a recipe for creating hunger and malnutrition, not solving it.
Besides
creating vitamin A deficiency, vitamin A rice will also create deficiency in
other micronutrients
and
nutrients. Raw milled rice has a low
content of Fat (0.5g/100g). Since fat
is necessary for vitamin A
uptake,
this will aggravate vitamin A deficiency.
It also has only 6.8g/100g of protein, which means less
carrier
molecules. It has only 0.7g/100g of
iron, which plays a vital role in the conversion of Betacarotene
(precursor
of vitamin A found in plant sources) to vitamin A.
Superior
Alternatives exist and are effective.
A
far more efficient route to removing vitamin A deficiency is biodiversity
conservation and propagation
of
naturally vitamin A rich plants in agriculture and diets.
Table
1 gives sources rich in vitamin A used commonly in Indian foods.
Source Hindi name/ Content
(microgram/100g)
(Amaranth
leaves) Chauli saag=266-1,166 -
(Coriander
leaves) - Dhania=1,166-1,333
(Cabbage)
Bandh gobi=217
(Curry
leaves)-Curry patta=1,333
(Drumstick
leaves)-Saijan patta1=283
(Fenugreek
leaves)-Methi-ka-saag=450
(Radish
leaves)-Mooli-ka-saag=750
(Mint)-Pudhina=300
(Spinach)-Palak
saag=600
(Carrot)-Gajar=217-434
(Pumpkin
(yellow))-Kaddu=100-120
(Mango
(ripe))-Aam=500
(Jackfruit)-Kathal=54
(Orange)-Santra=35
(Tomato
(ripe))-Tamatar=32
(Milk
(cow, buffalo))-Doodh=50-60
(Butter)-Makkhan=720-1,200
(Egg
(hen))-Anda=300-400
(Liver
(Goat, sheep))-Kalegi=6,600 - 10,000
Cod
liver oil=10,000 - 100,000
In
spite of the diversity of plants evolved and bred for their rich vitamin A content, a report of the Major
Science
Academies of the World - Royal Society, U.K., National Academy of Sciences of
the USA, The
Third
World Academy of Science, Indian National Science Academy, Mexican Academy of
Sciences,
Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Brazilian Academy of Sciences - on Transgenic Plants and
World
Agriculture
has stated, Vitamin A deficiency causes half a million children to become
partially or totally
blind
each year.
Traditional
breeding methods have been unsuccessful in producing crops containing a high
vitamin A
concentration
and most national authorities rely on expensive and complicated supplementation
programs
to
address the problem. Researchers have
introduced three new genes into rice, two from daffodils and
one
from a microorganism. The transgenic
rice exhibits an increased production of betacarotene as a
precursor
to vitamin A and the seed in yellow in colour.
Such yellow, or golden rice, may be a useful tool
to
help treat the problem of vitamin A deficiency in young children living in the
tropics.
It
appears as if the world’s top scientists suffer a more severe form of blindness
than children in poor
countries. The statement that "traditional
breeding has been unsuccessful in producing crops high in
vitamin
A" is not true given the diversity of plants and crops that Third World
farmers, especially women
have
bred and used which are rich sources of vitamin A such as coriander, amaranth,
carrot, pumpkin,
mango,
jackfruit.
It
is also untrue that vitamin A rice will lead to increased production of
betacarotene. Even if the target
of
33.3 microgram of vitamin A in 100g of
rice is achieved, it will be only 2.8% of betacarotene we can
obtain
from amaranth leaves 2.4% of betacarotene obtained from coriander leaves, curry
leaves and
drumstick
leaves.
Even
the World Bank has admitted that rediscovering and use of local plants and
conservation of vitamin
A
rich green leafy vegetables and fruits have dramatically reduced VAD threatened
children over the past
20
years in very cheap and efficient ways.
Women in Bengal use more than 200 varieties of field greens.
Over
a 3 million people have benefited greatly from a food based project for
removing VAD by increasing
vitamin
A availability through home gardens.
The higher the diversity crops the better the uptake of
pro-vitamin
A.
The
reason there is vitamin A deficiency in India in spite of the rich biodiversity
a base and indigenous
knowledge
base in India is because the Green Revolution technologies wiped out
biodiversity by
converting
mixed cropping systems to monocultures of wheat and rice and by spreading the
use of
herbicides
which destroy field greens.
In
spite of effective and proven alternatives, a technology transfer agreement has
been signed between the
Swiss
Government and the Government of India for the transfer of genetically
engineered vitamin A rice
to
India.
The
ICAR, ICMR, ICDS, USAIUD, UNICEF, WHO have been identified as potential
partners. The
breeding
and transformation is to be carried out at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University,
Coimbatore,
Central
Rice Research Institute, Cuttack and Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
and University of
Delhi,
South Campus.
The
Indian varieties in which the vitamin A traits are expected to be engineered
have been identified as IR
64,
Pusa Basmati, PR 114 and ASD 16.
Dr.
M.S. Swaminathan has been identified as "God father" to ensuring
public acceptance of genetically
engineered
rice. DBT & ICAR are also potential
partners for guaranteeing public acceptance and steady
progress
of the project.
Genetically
engineered vitamin A rice will aggravate this destruction since it is part of
an industrial
agriculture,
intensive input package. It will also lead to major water scarcity since it is
a water intensive
crop
and displaces water prudent sources of vitamin A.
Transferring
an Illusion to India.
The
first step in the technology transfer of vitamin A rice requires a need
assessment and an assessment
of
technology availability. One assessment
shows that vitamin A rice fails to pass the need test.
The
technology availability issue is related to whether the various elements and
methods used for the
construction
of transgenic crop plants are covered by intellectual property rights. Licenses for these rights
need
to be obtained before a product can be commercialised. The Cornell based ISAAA (International
Service
for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application) has been identified as the
partner for ensuring
technology
availability by ensuring technology availability by having material transfer
agreements signed
between
the representative authority of the ICAR and the "owners" of the
technology, Prof. I. Potrykus
and
Prof. P. Beyer.
In
addition, Novartis and Kerin Breweries have patents on the genes used as
constructs for the vitamin A
rice.
At
a public hearing on Biotechnology at U.S. Congress on 29th June 2000,
Astra-Zeneca stated they
would
be giving away royalty free licenses for the development of "Golden
rice".
At
a workshop organised by the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Dr. Barry of
Monsanto’s Rice
Genome
initiative announced that it will provide royalty-free licenses for all its technologies that can help
the
further development of "golden rice".
Hence
these gene giants Novartis, Astra-Zeneca and Monsanto are claiming exclusive
ownership to the
basic
patents related to rice research.
Further, neither Monsanto nor Astra - Zeneca said they will give up
their
patents on rice - they are merely giving royalty free licenses to public sector
scientists for
development
of "golden rice". This is an
arrangement for a public subsidy to corporate giants for R&D
since
they do not have the expertise or experience with rice breeding which public
institutions have.
Not
giving up the patents, but merely giving royalty free licenses implies that the
corporations like
Monsanto
would ultimately like to collect royalties from farmers for rice varieties
developed by public
sector
research systems. Monsanto has stated
that it expects long term gains from these IPR
arrangements,
which implies markets in rice as "intellectual property" which cannot
be saved or
exchanged
for seed. The real test for Monsanto
would be its declaration of giving up any patent claims to
rice
now and in the future and joining the call to remove plants and biodiversity
out of TRIPS. Failing
such
an undertaking by Monsanto the announcement that Monsanto giving royalty free
licenses for
development
of vitamin A rice like the rice itself can only be taken as a hoax to establish
monopoly over
rice
production, and reduce rice farmers of India into bio-serfs.
While
the complicated technology transfer package of "Golden Rice" will not
solve vitamin A problems in
India,
it is a very effective strategy for corporate take over of rice production,
using the public sector as a
Trojan
horse.