PhilRice partners with DA-10 to boost the promotion and consumption of Golden Rice.
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – To promote awareness and consumption of Golden Rice in the country, the Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office 10 (DA-RFO 10) through Regional Executive Director Carlene C. Collado in collaboration with DA-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) held a stakeholder meeting on May 17, 2022, this city.
DA-PhilRice Agusan Branch Bureau Director, Dr. Caesar Joventino M. Tado stated, that said event aims to introduce and seek support from different stakeholders on the production and deployment of Golden Rice.
Said rice variety is genetically modified that contains beta carotene which is a source of vitamin A. It is safe to eat and it costs and tastes just the same as regular rice.
Further, Golden Rice can help in the fight against Vitamin A Deficiency which weakens the body’s visual and immune system, especially in children.
In 2019, it passed a biosafety assessment and was declared, “as safe as conventional rice” by DA-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI).
Additionally, the Philippines is the first-ever country in the world to have approved genetically engineered rice with nutritional benefits.
Lanao del Norte, being listed as one of the priority provinces of the National Nutrition Council (NNC) with high stunting incidence from the 2015 Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) data, is one of the chosen pilot areas for the program.
“As part of the pilot-scale deployment, we have allocated seeds to be planted in Lanao del Nortethis year, which will then be deployed to farmers and consumers,” shared Program Leader Dr. Ronan Zagado of the Golden Rice-Project Management Office of DA-PhilRice.
Said meeting was attended by representatives from different government agencies such as DA-PhilRice, DA-BPI, DA-Agricultural Training Institute, Department of Health, NNC, Provincial Local Government of Lanao del Norte, International Rice Research Institute and the academe. # (AMBManto)