Golden Rice Essay

575 Words3 Pages
Honorable chairs and fellow delegates, Golden rice issue had always been debated since the 90s and it had failed to be launched. What makes you think that it will be passed at this floor? It was proposed 10years ago and yet any actions had been taken. Moreover, there are so many questions regarding golden rice that had yet to be answered. For instance, how much vitamin A will remain in the rice after it is harvested,processed and consume? The ‘golden rice’ is a useless application. Some 70 patents have already been filed on the GM genes and constructs used in making the ‘golden rice’. It is a drain on public resources and a major obstruction to the implementation of sustainable agriculture that can provide the real solutions to world hunger and malnutrition.Golden rice’ is not a ‘second generation’ GM crop as has been claimed. It involves standard first generation technology, and carries some of the worst features in terms of hazards to health and biodiversity. Rockefeller Foundation, the major funder of the project by far has withdrawn support from it. The project should be abandoned altogether. Malnutrition is said to be high in rice-eating populations. But these nutritional problems are not caused directly by the consumption of rice. They reflect an overall impact of multiple causative factors similar to those of other developing countries where rice is not a major staple8. Various deficiencies including zinc, vitamin C and D, folate, riboflavin, selenium and calcium occur in the context of poverty, environmental degradation, lack of public health systems and sanitation, lack of proper education and social disparity. Poverty and lack of purchasing power is identified as a major cause of malnutrition9. These underlying issues that can never be addressed by golden rice. As the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has stated, variety is the key and should be

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