Los Baños, Laguna - The country has a better chance of reducing the Vitamin A deficiency of more than a third of its young if it pursues the expansion of hectarage devoted to the cultivation of the RC82 rice variety.

This was the assessment made by Dr. Gerard Barry, chief of the Intellectual Property Management (IPM) unit of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) here, during the workshop of biotechnology experts from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) at the Diamond Hotel in Manila from Nov. 5-12.

Barry also wants all member-nations of the APEC to support the Golden Rice Program to battle the prevalent Vitamin A and other micronutrient deficiencies in Third World Countries.

The IRRI official told participants at the 10th APEC Agricultural Technical Core Working Group (ATCWG) Research, Development, Extension of Agricultural Biotechnology workshop that it is not only logical but absolutely necessary to enhance the nutritional value of rice if developing countries want to defeat the scourge on health posed by vitamin deficiency, especially among children.

In the Philippines, Barry stressed, the problem can be confronted positively, saying "this is easy since RC82 grows all over the country, including areas where there are very high deficiencies in Vitamin A."

He noted that the problem has been recognized by the government, which is developing a three-in-one variety, a non-transgenic bacterial leaf blight-and tungro-resistant rice combined with transgenic Golden Rice.

Aside from the Philippines, South Korea and China have joined the campaign for biofortification of rice as other companies like HarvestPlus have been breeding crops that are rich in iron, zinc, and pro-vitamin A.

Among these crops are wheat, maize, sweet potato, beans, and cassava.

Barry is a firm believer in Golden Rice, a polished rice that contains beta carotene, the plant precursor of Vitamin A, which he sees as the main solution to micronutrient deficiencies in poor countries.

The IRRI, he said, along with the National Agriculture Research and Extension Systems (NARES), are backcrossing prototypes into popular rice varieties in the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, and other countries.

Barry foresees the further development of these rice strains to combat nutritional problems in many countries. Fortified rice is better than distributing supplements that eventually do not reach the target public, he admitted.