Battle over modified rice in India
TEXT OF STORY
MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: India is one of the world’s largest exporters of long-grained Basmati rice, but rice that has been genetically-modified could pose economic problems. Miranda Kennedy reports from New Delhi.
MIRANDA KENNEDY: Rice traders have warned the Indian government that their exports will suffer unless they stop trials of genetically modified rice.
Rice farmers are worried too. This weekend hundreds of farmers set fire to a farm testing GM rice.
Suman Sahai, head of the Gene Campaign in New Delhi, says India’s two biggest markets for rice, Europe and the Middle East, won’t go near GM foods.
SUMAN SAHAI:“So all the places where you’re exporting your rice are places that have already declared their opposition to genetically-engineered foods, and therefore you will lose that market.”
She points out that the EU recently declared it would test all shipments of long grain rice from the US, because of GM contamination.
In New Delhi, I’m Miranda Kennedy for Marketplace.
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