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Acceptance of golden rice in the Philippine 'rice bowl'

Nature Biotechnology volume 21, pages 971–972 (2003)Cite this article

To the editor:

Few science issues in recent years have elicited such polarized public reactions as modern biotechnology and its agricultural applications. Although a new study conducted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (Ithaca, NY, USA) indicates that Southeast Asian stakeholders generally hold positive views about agricultural biotechnology (http://www.isaaa.org/kc/CBTNews/2003_Issues/ May/CBT_May_20.htm), other studies focusing more specifically on public acceptance of transgenic (Oryza sativa ssp. indica) rice—Bt rice in the Philippines1 and vitamin A–enriched (Golden) rice in Thailand2—reveal a more polarized situation. Given the potentially significant impact of Golden rice in addressing malnutrition and the strong opposition to it by particular stakeholders in Southeast Asia, I conducted an exploratory study in May 2003 to assess risk perceptions of Golden rice among rice farmer leaders in Nueva Ecjia province—widely regarded as the 'rice bowl' of the Philippines.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Asia Rice Foundation USA. The author wishes to thank Ronnie Coffman, Randy Hautea and Antonio Alfonso for their advice and assistance.

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  1. Department of Communication, Cornell University, 336 Kennedy Hall, Ithaca, 14853, New York, USA

    Mark Chong

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Chong, M. Acceptance of golden rice in the Philippine 'rice bowl'. Nat Biotechnol 21, 971–972 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0903-971

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