2007-02-21 | permalink

Californian Valley rice farmers take a hard line

A splinter group of more than 200 Sacramento Valley rice farmers is claiming that even experimental plantings of genetically modified rice jeopardize key export markets. The group, Rice Producers of California, plans to release today a market study that documents the powerful opposition to such technology in several key export destinations: Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Turkey. While the study generally reinforces conventional wisdom about these markets, the fact that the group saw fit to commission a study at all illustrates the anxiety that many export-dependent farmers continue to feel about genetically modified crops.

• The Sacramento Bee, USA: Valley rice farmers take a hard line
• Rice Producers of California, USA: Rice Producers of California - Biotechnology Position Paper