Media

On March 18 the Golden Rice team moved on to Mumbai, the financial capital of India, where we were hosted by Mr. Rajju Shroff, head of Uni-Phos Inc, Mr. Shroff is very active in agricultural policy as Chairman of the Crop Care Federation of India. He has taken on Greenpeace and the activists over untrue allegations about agriculture practices and has won against them in the courts. At 82 he is still fit and in fighting form and is doing all he can to raise awareness of Golden Rice as a cure for vitamin A deficiency.

Mr. Shroff kindly arranged and hosted a media conference and afternoon seminar for journalists, scientists, and government officials at the Taj Palace Hotel in South Mumbai. There were about 60 participants and much was learned by all.

India is now the second largest producer of agricultural crops in the world, after China. India is a net exporter of food with a population of 1.3 billion, quite a feat and a great advance from decades ago when starvation was a constant threat. More than 50% of the population are engaged in food production but that is changing as mechanization comes in.

The only GM crop approved for farming in India is Bt cotton which was approved in 2002. Since then cotton production has nearly doubled, farm incomes have increased, and India has gone from a cotton importing country to a cotton exporting country.