The campaign to push the government to allow cultivation of the so-called ‘Golden Rice’ has resurfaced. Though the implications of allowing such a step are significant, there has been insufficient debate in the public domain on this issue.

Golden Rice is a genetically engineered rice made by splicing a gene from the daffodil plant and a bacterium which is expected to produce beta-carotene, a rich source of provitamin A. Ingested in the body, provitamin A is converted to Vitamin A. Hence, proponents argue that Golden Rice offers a simple solution, specially where rice is the staple diet.

The $100-million Golden Rice project is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the European Community Biotech Program and the Swiss Federal Office for Education and Science.

Debate the issue There is little debate over the importance of adequate Vitamin A in the diet. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) among children significantly increases the risk of common illnesses such as diarrhoea and measles. With pregnant mothers, VAD occurs especially during the last trimester of pregnancy. Vitamin A is an essential vitamin in human nutrition which is important to maintain good vision, especially at night. It helps form healthy skin, bones and teeth. It is also closely linked to a healthy immune system.

The primary reason why VAD occurs, especially in small children, is due to malnutrition. But, is Golden Rice the ideal solution? India is blessed with locally relevant and culturally appropriate food systems which provide us with excellent sources of vitamin A. Leafy greens, such as spinach and the abundantly available moringa leaves, amaranth leaves and a myriad local fruits and vegetables such as sweet potato, mango and papaya are rich sources of vitamin A, apart from yellow vegetables.

The root cause for the spread of VAD is the loss of biological diversity. The permanent adoption of monoculture, such as the continuous rice-wheat rotation sees in northwestern India, primarily Punjab, in the highly chemically extractive industrial type of agriculture there, is the root cause for not just VAD, but many other nutrient-related deficiencies in humans. Go to the interior of India, especially the tribal areas. Why don’t they have this VAD problem? Their food basket is varied; they have staples such as rice or millets, a spread of vegetables, and wild fruits and berries.

Adivasi women in Maharashtra have rediscovered a variety of vegetables, highly nutritious, that naturally grow in the jungles. The spread features plants such as kurdu (silver cockscomb), kartoli (spine gourd) , khurasin (niger), tetu (Indian trumpet flower), shevga (drumstick), wild mushrooms and yam leaves (elephant foot plant). All these are rich sources of Vitamin A. These plants grow naturally every year in the season. Recently, a self-help group, the ML Dhavale Trust in Maharashtra, organised the Rann Bhaji Ustav (wild vegetables fair), which was a great success. In contrast, the diet of the average urban household is primarily centred on rice or wheat.

Since Golden Rice is also a genetically modified crop (GM organism), the threat of contamination with the other rice varieties, bred through cross pollination or the wide array of native germplasms, is real. This will create havoc in our rice cultivation.

Veggies to beat VAD Communities in the Philippines and Bangladesh have shown how VAD can be solved through kitchen gardens and agro-ecologically farmed homes and community gardens. The report of the UN sub-committee on nutrition revealed in 1998 that access to vegetables and greens through home gardens plays a significant role in checking VAD. In the Philippines, VAD incidence decreased from 40.1 per cent in 2003 to 15.2 per cent in 2008 among vulnerable children aged six months to five years. This is a remarkable reduction. This was achieved through enabling access to local vegetables, fruits and tubers that were originally part of their traditional diet.

In fact when the “Allow Golden Rice” lobby from Canada toured the Philippines from March 3 to 10 this year, it was met with strong protests from local farmers. The Philippine farmer-scientist group MASIPAG (Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura) reports that local farmer groups called on the department of agriculture to disapprove the application for commercialising Golden Rice. They also brought and ate sweet potato to show that these vitamins are readily available, cheap and are the natural sources of Vitamin A. India must follow the example in stemming this gamble on our rice cultivation.

The writer is an agricultural scientist and senior fellow, Humboldt Foundation

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