According to the Business Mirror, a farmer group called Kilusang Magbubukid ng Bikol (Peasant Movement of Bicol, or KMB) and an activist group called the Sararong Inisyatiba nin Kahinwanmaan sa Wasakon ang Agrokemikals na Lasong-GMO (Sikwal-GMO) claimed responsibility for vandalizing a trial of Golden Rice in Camarines Sur in the Philippines.
Golden Rice is a variety of rice that has been genetically engineered to produce beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. The rice is being trialled by the International Rice Research Institute, the Philippines Department of Agriculture, and The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), to better understand its potential use to help alleviate vitamin A deficiency, which is rampant in many developing countries.
The activists claimed that they believed the nutritionally enhanced staple was dangerous, citing objections by “concerned scientists and peasant leaders.”
Read the full, original story here: “Golden Rice trial vandalized”