A Philippines-based farmer-scientist group, MASIPAG, along with its regional network, has called on governments to immediately halt all planned field testing and feed tests of the genetically modified (GM) rice ‘Golden Rice.’ They say GMO rice will lead to a loss of genetic diversity, endanger farmers’ rights, and cause detrimental environmental and health effects.
Currently, GM rice is being field tested in the Philippines, Indonesia and Bangladesh, and the government of India has recently approved seed companies to carry out field trials of GM rice.
The farmer groups claim that patents to GM rice are owned by private seed companies, which will eventually force farmers to pay for seed, instead of farmers being able to independently use rice seed harvested from a previously grown crop, which can reduce input costs.
Read the full, original article: Farmer Group in Asia Urges Governments to Stop GM Rice Commercialization