By Anna Valmero
QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA—Edwin Paraluman, a rice farmer from Mindanao, hopes to see his community benefit from the promise of vitamin A-rich “golden rice”.
The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) has been working with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for the development of golden rice by incorporating beta carotene in the rice grains, which gives it a yellowish color.
“We are conducting our breeding carefully to make sure that the new golden rice variety retains the same high yield, pest resistance, and excellent grain and eating qualities while helping to address the pervasive problem of vitamin A deficiency in the Philippines,” said Dr. Antonio Alfonso, chief science specialist and Golden Rice team leader at PhilRice.
Worldwide, 350,000 children go blind while 670,000 others die, both from Vitamin A deficiency each year.
In the Philippines, three to four children are Vitamin-A deficient, while prevalence among pregnant women is 22.2 percent and in the overall population is pegged 8.2 percent, according to data from the Food and Nutrition Research Institute.
Daily consumption of a cup (150 grams uncooked weight) of golden rice can supply 50 percent of the Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamin A for an adult, according to a research by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
IRRI and its partners PhilRice and the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute have been working on golden rice for the past ten years.
Last April, the group partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Helen Keller International (HKI) to further understand how golden rice will reduce the number of children with Vitamin A deficiency, according to Dr. Gerard Barry, Golden Rice Network coordinator and IRRI’s Golden Rice project leader.
Dr. Alfred Sommer, professor and dean emeritus, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said golden rice could help reduce the number of Vitamin A deficient populations, especially among children and pregnant women by putting the required nutrient in their staple food.
Golden rice will be submitted for approval to Philippine regulators in 2013, two years ahead of Bangladesh.
Professor Ingo Potrykus and Dr. Peter Beyer invented golden rice and donated the technology in 2000 to help resource-poor farmers in developing countries.
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