GM Golden Rice In India + Climate Change, GHG Emmission & Crop Loss

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Field trials of indigenously developed GM Golden Rice soon http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=143306 ASHOK B SHARMA Posted online: Friday, October 13, 2006 at 0102 hours IST NEW DELHI, OCT 12: India is not lagging behind in developing its versions of the genetically modified (GM) Golden Rice. Director-general of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Mangla Rai said, “We would possibly go for largescale field trials of our Golden Rice within a year.” Golden Rice, as per claims, ensures nutritional security. It is argued that Golden Rice has high levels of carotenoids and iron. Rai further said, “Elite Indica Rice has now been developed with 9.3 ug/q carotenoid level and 14-18 ug/q iron level in rice seeds after polishing.

Further significant contributions have been made in developing this improved Indica Golden Rice by developing homozygous rice lines using another culture and also marker-free Golden Indica Rice was repeated.” The development of GM rice, however, can have some adverse trade implications. The trade session of the ongoing IInd International Rice Congress here on Wednesday discussed how complex global trade would become with the commercialisation of GM rice. In this context, the southwest regional director of IRRI, Steve Linscombe, said, “Though in US, GM rice events like 06 and 62 have been approved and found safe, the concerned company has not yet commercialised it, keeping in view some public concerns about this food crops. Same transgenic protein occurs in the herbicide resistant GM maize and Canola.” Linscombe said that bar gene has been inserted in LL Rice 06, 62 and 601. Speaking on the recent slippage of

LL Rice 601 into the food chain in US, he admitted that the event 601 was not yet approved, but the US administration claims it to be safe. “Perhaps, the USFDA would evaluate this event soon.” In India a group of researchers isolated, characterized and incorporated into rice Sod1 gene cloned from mangrove. Transgenic PB1 with Sod1 gene was crossed with IR 120 and IR 64 rice and non-Basmati rice lines were field evaluated.----------- Experts warn of heavy crop losses due to high greenhouse gas emissions http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=143308 HARIKRISHNAN VR Posted online: Friday, October 13, 2006 at 0124 hours IST NEW DELHI, OCT 12 : High greenhouse gas emissions may take a heavy toll on Asia’s food front,

warned climate change experts. Kezuhiko Kobayashi, professor (Dept of Global Agricultural Changes), University of Tokyo, said Asia is going to experience huge crop losses, sometimes more than 60%, in certain crops like winter wheat in China and South Korea by 2020 due to high greenhouse gas emissions, especially ozone concentrations at ground level. India may also be affected, though no conclusive evidence regarding the country is available yet, he added. Not much study on rice has been done, he added. Kobayashi was presenting a paper in the ongoing IInd International Rice Congress (IRC) here. “Considering the rise in ambient ozone levels, it is going to have an increasingly large impact on crop production,” he said. The ozone concentrations might rise from the current average level of 10 parts per billion (ppb) to 20 ppb by 2020, he said. Ozone levels rise as a result of increased burning of fossil fuels,

including auto exhaust. “In rural areas, ozone can cause damage. Though we need more evidence, there are too much reasons to believe,” Kobayashi later told FE. However, some Indian experts did not buy Kobayashi’s argument. DC Uprety, principal scientist, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, said the prediction has gone too far. In 1999, Chinese scientists have suggested that ground level ozone concentrations in China may go high enough to seriously damage the country’s wheat production and food security. “Personally, I think Kobayashi’s forecast is not that conclusive. Greenhouse emissions like carbon dioxide (CO2) are a blessing in disguise. It may increase photosynthesis, and hence increase yield,” Uprety told FE. Kobayashi refuted such observations saying, “Over estimating the beneficial effects of CO2 is not good. We should be more

pessimistic.”---------

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