The call was made at the 4th International Rice Congress (IRC) held recently in Bangkok.
Highlighting the role of non-genetically modified (GM) plant breeding technologies in producing new rice strains that can adapt to extreme and changing climate conditions, Dr. Janet Cotter, Senior Scientist at Greenpeace International’s Science Unit, said:
“The International Rice Congress, a regular scientific meeting that gathers rice industry players, is tremendously important for the future of rice. It’s amazing to see so many rice traits, such as drought-tolerant and increased yield varieties, being developed through marker-assisted conventional breeding.
What’s needed now is to put these traits into varieties suitable for low-input, ecological agriculture to ensure the sustainability of rice farming, and to increase its resilience to climate change.”
Cotter said that in times of extreme weather events like droughts, floods, and typhoons, communities need resilient agriculture that will continue to provide food and meet their nutritional needs.
It remains difficult, however, to predict when droughts or floods will occur and while plant breeding can provide climate tolerant varieties, farmers do not always know which variety to plant. Cotter added, “diversity holds the key to climate change resilient farming by providing an insurance policy against the impacts of extreme weather.”
In Thailand, the debate on GM crops was sparked again on October 21, just a few days prior to the IRC, when the country’s Supreme Administrative Court dismissed a case filed by Greenpeace against the Department of Agriculture for negligence in the management of the department’s GM papaya field trials in Khon Kaen province in 2004.
Highlighting concerns among Thailand’s farming communities about GM contamination of papaya, Kingkorn Narintarakul Na Ayuthaya of BioThai Foundation warned that field trials of other GM crops are likely to happen following the Supreme Administrative Court decision.
She added, “the evidence of GM contamination on our crops such as papaya is already impacting our ability to export to other countries.”
“As one of the world’s largest exporters of rice, Thailand faces heavy economic losses if field trials of GM crops will be allowed by the present government. We must stand guard and protect our rice diversity and protect farmers’ rights in the face of large corporate monopolies over seeds.
“Thailand should retain its edge as a country that has GM-free food exports. The government needs to carefully consider its position on the issue,” Kingkorn Narintarakul Na Ayuthaya said.
Daniel Ocampo, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Ecological Agriculture Campaigner, said solutions to food insecurity and nutritional deficiencies are already available; including the fortification of food, Vitamin A supplementation, and diet diversification sourced from ecological agriculture.
These solutions should be supported through policies that will enable farmers and the industry to pursue ecological agriculture instead of the illusion of GM crops, which will only divert resources away from solutions already available, Ocampo said.
“Aside from resilience to climate change, ecological agriculture ensures ecological diversity and can be a source of diverse diets that assures a healthier source of nutrients for people,” Ocampo said.
Despite the interests of some industry members in producing new GM rice strains Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) is by far ahead of any GM rice being developed. Several rice varieties developed through MAS are already helping farmers cope with abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity.
Unlike genetic engineering, crops produced through MAS do not present risks to farmers or traders resulting from GM contamination.