Rice is the staple carbohydrate for half the world's people. To give this huge rice-dependent population balanced nutrition through rice itself, scientists at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have spent three decades researching Golden Rice enriched with vitamin A, iron and zinc. IRRI scientists say it will set a great example in keeping millions of people healthy.

For developing and rice-producing countries, rice is the main hope for meeting future food needs. Most people in China, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Bangladesh satisfy their hunger with rice. Yet in these countries, millions of children still go blind for lack of vitamin A, and millions fall ill for lack of iron and zinc. Golden Rice has come as a way to prevent this: eating it would provide vitamin A, zinc and iron.

The report examines how the research by scientists in the Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology Division at IRRI's N C Brady Laboratory aims to secure balanced nutrition for billions of people, and asks how ready it is for the field.

Source: Shykh Seraj, Hridoye Mati O Manush. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.