As biotechnology develops at a rapid pace, genetic engineering has been proposed as a means of improving the various aspects of life. This includes the agriculture biotechnology especially in crop production. Rice is one of the examples and currently, the developing countries have been urged to facilitate the adoption of genetically engineered (GE) rice. Why?
Historically, rice feeds more than half of the world’s population. Rice is also a part of the culture and daily diet. Statistically, the highest rice producing countries are in Asia. In 2004, China produced 177, 434,000 Mt (metric tons), India produced 129,000,000 Mt and Indonesia produced 54, 060, 816 Mt; (FAOSTAT data, 2005). The issue here is that all the rice produced by these countries was not patented. With GE rice for example; in 1997, Rice Tech Inc a U.S based company filed a patent on basmati and more than 600 patents have been filed under various corporations. What about patent right if we used that GE rice?
In future, it may be hard for local farmers to grow paddy to compete with GE rice. This is because the World Trade Organization (WTO) has allowed industrialized countries to market GE rice all over the region. Local farmers cannot may not be able to market their products because GE rice would be much cheaper.
For local farmers, the idea of the WTO may invite a negative impact. According to the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) which was enforced in 1995, the liberalization of agriculture by removing trade barriers such as tariffs and domestic subsidies are the main agenda of the WTO. These tariffs and domestic subsidies have protected domestic markets from unfair competition. .
Moreover, the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) requires all WTO member countries to guarantee the protection of patents for at least 20 years, and in doing so will claim a monopoly and secure huge benefits from ‘bio-piracy’. With the intellectual property rights enforced by TRIPS and bilateral trade agreements (TRIPSs-plus), rice seed varieties are being transferred from the hands of farmers to those of seed companies and privatized agencies.
In addition poor countries in Asia have been asked to adopt export-oriented policies. These policies aim to expand corporate farming by allowing foreign-based companies do operate locally, As a result, thousands of farming communities will be displaced. When we speak of corporate farming, it relies on the intensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Farm workers toiling on these big plantations suffer from chemical poisoning and are exploited without due compensation.
Technological innovations in rice growing has become a frontier to increase rice productivity in Asia. The “Green Revolution”, which combines a package of technologies such as pesticides, land preparation and irrigation, aims to increase rice yields. However, the Green Revolution has suffered major failure. For example, the depletion of soil fertility, the negative impact of synthetic pesticides, human health and economic dislocation in rural communities.
Rice is innately a self-pollinating plant which means that each seed is self-fertilized. This has enabled farmers to continually save, re-use and exchange harvested seeds over generations. However, hybrid rice requires the introduction of a male sterility system which would enable the transfer of pollen from one variety to a distantly related variety to produce the first generation hybrid seeds. The most common male sterility system used in national hybrid rice programs across Asia, is the ‘cyto-genetic male sterility system'(CMS). Hybrid rice cultivation requires more fertilizers than ordinary inbred rice production as observed in India, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Actually, consumers have the right to know what foods contain GM ingredients. This information can be displayed through a label which would than enable the consumer to have a choice. However, from the biotechnology corporation point of view, this information should not be displayed to customers.
In the United States, GM food do not require labels although this condition is being challenged. Products containing GM materials must be labeled in countries like Australia, New Zealand and Japan. In Africa, Zimbabwe and South Africa, these countries are currently working on a labeling scheme in relation to GM products.
According to Dr Michael Hansen, Senior Scientist with the consumer Union in the USA, among the potential problems with GE rice are the increase of pesticide use, the impact on non-target organisms namely; honeybees, earthworms etc, and gene flow.
While the worlds population is growing and the demand for rice surpasses the capacity of the supplier, more people starve. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), over 850 million people are affected by hunger and another two billion suffer ‘hidden hunger’ due to not enough food to eat. However, studies have shown that the world produces enough food for everyone if local food producers cater only to the local market. Therefore people must be given the right to decide their own food and agriculture policies.