DES MOINES, IA -- Iran has become the world's first to release a genetically modified (GM) Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) rice resistant to the pest stem-borer which developing countries like the Philippines can tap into its own variety to raise yield.
Leocadio S. Sebastian, Philippine Rice Research Institute (PRRI) director, told reporters during the Fifth International Genetics Symposium that Iran has gone ahead in commercializing the world's first transgenic rice after developing it for more than 10 years.
Observers have been expecting China to commercialize the world's first GM rice which is also bred to be resistant to the stem-borer, but public perception against GM food is a hurdle on its development. "Wherever you are close to a technology, there'll be a lot of opposition that will find its way into the public. The Chinese are doing an excellent work, but they have to talk to their people. That's what Iran did. People will love it. It's a wonderful technology," said Behzad Ghareyazie, senior scientist, International Rice Research Institute (Iran) in an interview.
The stem borer-resistant gene in cry1Ab has been inserted by genomic scientists in Iran's local self-pollinating variety called "Tarom Molaii," an aromatic rice Iranians are fond of. However, its yield is low at just two metric tons (MT) per hectare. The stem-borer resistance gives farmers a 10 percent yield advantage, raising harvest to 2.2 MT per hectare even as stem borer normally infests 25 percent of harvest.
Ghareyazie said that while there are no official requests yet, developing countries like the Philippines may be interested in harnessing Iran's GM rice trait into their local varieties. "We have not yet received official requests, but scientists want to have access for these in their germplasm. And we will be happy to share this with them. Stem borer and leaf folder are a major problem. China, the Philippines, almost any country where rice is grown has this problem," he said.
Iran released its transgenic rice last year, coinciding with the International Year of Rice. The GM crop has so far been planted for two seasons with Iran's one-cropping per year on "several thousand hectares." The GM rice, whose gene transferred was conducted at IRRI's Philippine office in Los Banos, Laguna, will later be developed on Iran's high-yielding varieties.
The target of Iran IRRI is to raise its national yield to six MT per hectare to make the country rice sufficient in its production. "That's possible because a lot of countries produce nine to 10 tons per hectare average," said Ghareyazie. Iran presently imports some one million MT of rice per year. Its rice is planted on 600,000 hectares which only produces one-third of its consumption.
An important impact of the Bt rice is its elimination of chemical spray against stem-borer infestation which is beneficial to human health and the environment. It wasn't really a fast route that Iran took to release the world's first Bt rice. Over the last 10 years, the Bt rice has gone through rigorous testing including animal feed safety, composition analysis, field trial for yield and environmental impact, and other risk assessments.
"It wasn't too fast. It was too slow. We're very sad about the lives taken during these 10 years that we didn't release it. Every year, we have reports of death because of the misuse of pesticides. We didn't give it to farmers because of concerns of the people," he said.
Iran is eyeing other use of genetic engineering in raising rice yield which may involve traits such as drought resistance or salinity tolerance.
© Tehran Times 2005
