Regulatory approval of Golden Rice urged to meet vitamin A deficiency
It is high time to approve the rice variety to address micronutrient deficiencies of country’s population
Speakers at a webinar urged for the regulatory approval of Golden Rice, as it is a sustainable source of Vitamin A.
They said consumption of the genetically modified rice variety offers a potent and cost-effective strategy to combat vitamin A deficiency (Vad).
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) organised the webinar, "Importance of golden rice as a choice to sustain Vitamin A sufficiency" on Saturday morning.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
At the webinar, icddr,b Executive Director Tahmeed Ahmed said, "To address Vad of the country's people, vitamin A fortified Golden Rice can be a good solution. Given the increase in population of our country and the pressure on food security, it is high time that the regulatory authorities approve the rice variety for the sake of addressing micronutrient deficiencies of the country's population."
"There is a need to have a thorough discussion with the regulatory authorities including the Department of Environment about the evidence behind Golden Rice. This could result in an early release of the variety, so that farmers and consumers can test it," he added.
The webinar was chaired by Anwar Faruque, former Secretary of the agriculture ministry.
Presenting the keynote at the webinar, IRRI's Noel Magor said, "Bangladesh has a commendable track record in tackling VAD in the past decades, with levels of vitamin A deficiency declining to relatively low levels among the poorest and most vulnerable. The government tackled VAD through large-scale capsule supplementation and other fortification programmes."
"However, many still have low to moderate vitamin A status and Golden Rice can be a sustainable source to achieve full Vitamin A sufficiency among the people of Bangladesh," he added.
He said Golden Rice was developed to be cultivated and distributed among the poorest and most vulnerable as it alone can fulfil 30-40% of the average requirements of Vitamin A in humans.
"Moreover, the yield of Golden Rice is the same as the yield of BRRI-29. Any farmer can keep the seed from the rice itself as the beta-carotene gene has been introgressed in an inbred rice variety," Noel Magor said.
ACI Limited Managing Director FH Ansarey, Bangladesh Agriculture University Professor Emeritus Sattar Mandal, Bangladesh Agriculture University Vice-Chancellor Professor Lutful Hassan, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute Director General Md Shahjahan Kabir, Bangladesh Country Representative for IRRI Humnath Bhandari, and other prominent civil society members, among others, attended the webinar.
