Philippines Faces Hurdles in Transgenic Rice Push

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INTERVIEW -

Philippines Faces Hurdles in Transgenic Rice Push

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SINGAPORE - A plan by the Philippines to become one of the first nations to introduce genetically modified rice may be delayed by several years, despite an aggressive start.

The country is unlikely to commercialise a transgenic variety, resistant to bacterial leaf blight disease, on which it conducted field trials this year, said Leo Sebastian, executive director of the state-funded Philippine Rice Research Institute.

"Unfortunately, the variety in which the transgenic gene was placed is not very popular among the country's consumers, farmers and millers," Sebastian told Reuters in an interview, referring to the IR-72 variety.

"It's not commercially viable. We are trying to find other varieties. You cannot do genetic transformation in every variety. Our scientists have tried transforming other popular varieties but they have so far not been as successful as the IR-72 variety."
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Story by Sambit Mohanty

Story Date: 31/10/2005

© Reuters News Service 2005