Research on Golden Rice is still ongoing following the country’s regulatory guidelines. It will only be made available to farmers and consumers after receiving the necessary permits for direct use, cultivation, and commercialization.
We are currently waiting for the approval of the conduct of field trials from the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Plant Industry.
In 2017, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) jointly submitted an application for Food, Feed, and/or Processing (FFP) to the DA-BPI. Also, PhilRice submitted an application for a biosafety permit for the conduct of a field trial of Golden Rice.
In 2018, Golden Rice received positive food safety evaluations from leading regulatory agencies: Food Standards Australia New Zealand, Health Canada, and the United States Food and Drug Administration. These evaluations have shown that Golden Rice is as safe and as nutritious as conventional rice with the added benefit of increased beta-carotene content in the rice grain.
Golden Rice, a new type of rice containing beta-carotene (a source of vitamin A) in the grain, is being developed as a complementary intervention to address vitamin A deficiency (VAD), which is a significant and persistent public health problem in many parts of the world.
In the Philippines, VAD affects 2.1 million children (6 months – 5 years old) and a number of pregnant (9%) and nursing mothers (5%).
Existing interventions to address VAD, such as diet diversification, supplementation, food fortification, and promotion of optimal breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices, have made real successes but many are still missed.
Golden Rice, once available, offers a great potential to help address the problem of vitamin A deficiency in the country.
For more information, please contact Dr. Reynante Ordonio, Healthier Rice Project Leader,
at 0939-056-7356. Follow us on Fb (GoldenRiceProject) for updates.
