By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
Batac
City—The Batac Sangguniang Panlungsod gave
its full backing on the ongoing “golden rice” field trials being undertaken by
the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in this city.
Batac councilor Violeta D.
Nalupta, who sponsored the resolution supporting the project, announced their
full support for this after all members of the city council expressed their
favorable action on the measure.
The
Ilocos Times learned that there was prior
field trial for the same program in the past but this did not yield satisfying
results.
In view of this, Ms. Nalupta,
who chairs the council’s agriculture committee, said they need to continue the
field trials using different varieties as there would be many benefits one the
trials give better results.
Based on research, the golden
rice is rich in Vitamin A which prevents cancer, help builds immunity of
children, helps perform bodily functions, plays a direct role in performing
physiological functions and helps in the development of central nervous system.
Further research states that
Vitamin A deficiency is still a public health problem affecting 15 percent of
preschool children and 9 percent of pregnant women and one of the causes of
blindness but also malnutrition and mortality in the Philippines.
Ms. Nalupta also said that
this kind of rice also prevents signs of aging because of its high content of
anti-oxidants.
The PhilRice is the lead
agency for developing golden rice in the country and has chosen the Batac as
one of their research sites in the Philippines.
She said that PhilRice uses
the GR2-E hybrid rice in the experimentation and if ever this will succeed, the
variety will be introduced to Batac farmers.
The field trial is being
conducted at the PhilRice compound in Batac with an approximate area of more
than a hectare.
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