it's not just nukes...

'The Department of Environment (DoE), the main environmental body, has voiced angry opposition to plans by agriculture officials to bring 200,000 hectares under cultivation of GM rice.'

1.FAO funding $6 mln worth of projects in Iran
2.Iranian scientists produce country's first GM rice
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1.FAO funding $6 mln worth of projects in Iran
Saturday, March 12, 2005
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=30401&NewsKind=Business%20%26%20Economy

LONDON, March 12 (IranMania) - United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is implementing several projects worth a total of $6 mln in Iran, said the FAO country director in this northwestern city.

According to ISNA, Dr. Abdur Rashid further said during his visit to Zanjan to become acquainted with the challenges facing the farmers in this cold area that FAO-sponsored projects could also be implemented in this province given its strategic importance to the western Iran's agriculture economy.

He said FAO is implementing 25 agro projects in Iran in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad.

The FAO official discussed a range of issues including the possibility of further promoting irrigated farming as well as an increase in the use of genetically-modified seeds with local agricultural authorities.

Environmental groups in Iran are strongly against the use of genetically-modified seeds.

The Department of Environment (DoE), the main environmental body, has voiced angry opposition to plans by agriculture officials to bring 200,000 hectares under cultivation of GM rice.

Iran has announced plans for increasing the area under cultivation of genetically modified rice in a bid to boost production with the help of nanotechnology.

However, environmental activists say genetically modified rice would damage the environment, destroy traditional rice farming and cause health hazards.
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2.Iranian scientists produce country's first GM rice
by Wagdy Sawahel
SciDev.Net, February 18, 2005
http://www.monsanto.co.uk/news/ukshowlib.phtml?uid=8613

[CAIRO] Iran's first genetically modified (GM) rice has been approved by national authorities and is being grown commercially for human consumption.

Researchers at the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII) modified rice to resist attack by insects by inserting a bacterial gene that produces a toxin. The chemical kills insects but is harmless to birds and mammals (see Researchers pinpoint pests' weak spot for natural toxin).

The research was conducted in collaboration with the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) using a local variety of aromatic rice, Tarom molaii.

Following laboratory tests, the GM rice was grown in a greenhouse and in field experiments from 1999 to October 2004 - a total of six generations.

ABRII's director general, Behzad Ghareyazie, told SciDev.Net that in the trials the GM rice killed close to 100 per cent of the four species of insect pests attempting to feed on it.

One of these - the striped stem borer - is the main insect pest of rice in Iran, and is also widespread in Asia, where it can cause substantial crop losses.

Ghareyazie added that in the field trials the GM rice showed no abnormal patterns of growth and differed from non-GM rice only in its ability to resist pests. Additional tests showed the modified rice to have the same nutritional value as the variety it was developed from, he said.

Livestock accepted the GM rice and had no adverse health effects from eating it, said Ghareyazie.

The ABRII team published its initial research in the journal Molecular Breeding in 1997 and in the Journal of Economic Entomology in 2000. The results of the field trials and animal feeding experiments are also being prepared for publication.