The new report can be downloaded here: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/future-of-rice
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New report sets out future for world's most important staple food 'Future of Rice' highlights alternatives to genetic engineering in the lab and field
Chennai, India 15th November 2006 New, environmentally sustainable and consumer-friendly technologies effectively render the imprecise Genetic Engineering (GE) technology both obsolete and unnecessary, according to a new report released today by Greenpeace.
The Greenpeace report 'Future of Rice' (1) brings together the varied ways in which farmers and scientists are improving rice production and increasing farmer income through the use of technologies such as marker assisted selection (MAS). By highlighting an environmentally sustainable future for the world's most important staple food, the report debunks the myth that GE companies such as Monsanto can secure the future of rice.
At the launch of the report, Greenpeace was joined by Indian farmers protesting against GE field trials in India (2) and called for a global end to such field trials in order to protect the future and security of food supplies worldwide.
"This year we have seen the contamination of global supplies of rice the world's most important staple food by illegal GE rice varieties from the US and China," said Divya Raghunandan "No further proof is needed that GE crops are dangerous and cannot be contained. The report establishes that there is in fact, no need to take the risk of GE solutions to the problems of rice production exist and are being used in labs and fields around the world," she continued.
The report, co-written by two scientific experts in sustainable rice production, (3) examines current challenges affecting rice production such as pests and diseases, chemical use and yields. It showcases scientifically proven solutions currently used by rice farmers around the world. "The real solutions to ensure sustainable rice production already exist in farms around the world. These solutions, based on traditional knowledge combined with cutting edge technology are far more reliable and acceptable than destructive industrial agriculture and imprecise genetic engineering," said Nammalwar, a well-known organic farming scientist from India.
Farmers, millers, traders and retailers around the globe are facing massive financial costs as a result of the contamination of rice supplies, including testing and recall costs, cancelled orders, import bans, brand damage and consumer distrust that could last for years.
"GE rice field trials threaten both, the integrity of rice varieties and the economic benefits of producing GE-safe rice. By taking the lead on developing a long-term sustainable, GE free rice supply, the Indian Government could become a world leader, with direct benefits to the Indian economy, rice farmers and traders and the billions of people who rely on rice as a staple food," said Divya Raghunandan, GE Campaigner, Greenpeace India.
"The world's most important staple crop is too important to gamble with. There are as many as 140,000 different varieties of rice, with an enormous diversity of traits, such as resistance to different pests and diseases and capacity to grow in salty or dry conditions. We don’t need genetic engineering to take advantage of these traits we need to preserve this resource and knowledge and combine it with safe hi tech breeding techniques," concluded Divya, "Governments and research institutes the world over must abandon GE field trials and focus their energies, and indeed their research budgets, on sustainable and real world solutions to protect the global rice supply."
For more information, contact
Divya Raghunandan, GE Campaign India +91 98455 35406 Jeremy Tager, GE Campaign Greenpeace International +31 646221185 Namrata Chowdhary, Media Officer, Greenpeace International +31 646 197 327 Saumya Tripathy, Media Officer, Greenpeace India, +91 93438 62212
Notes to Editors:
1. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/future-of-rice
2. On 10 November 2006, 150 farmers uprooted a GM rice field trial in Alandurai district Coimbatore Tamil Nadu. In October 2006, over 500 farmers burned a GE rice field trial in Karnal in Haryana.
3. Dr Emerlito Borromeo, PhD genetics; Dr Debal Deb, PhD Ecology