11 Feb 2020 --- Despite long being heralded as an efficient strategy to reduce vitamin A deficiency (VAD), golden rice is still marred with issues that prevent its effective use. This is according to a study, which comes on the heels of the Philippines becoming the first developing country to approve the genetically-modified rice at the end of last year. Using surveys and interviews of more than 115 rice farmers in the Nueva Ecija region, considered part of the “rice bowl” of the Philippines, the researchers argue that it still needs to be approved for commercial sale and produced in marketable quantities of seed. Potentially most concerningly, the rice – which is enriched with beta-carotene – may not even address VAD in the target population.
