This is a farce of course. They don't give a fart about farmers and their profits.
Greenpeace is full of people who believe in witchcraft and crystals, worrying that GM is somehow from the devil and must be opposed at any cost. Including the health and welfare of the Philippine people.
The rice they are growing now is GM, but just done at random by farmers over a long time. Nothing in that process is any safer or moral than creating rice deliberately and carefully for a certain goal.
Lets deny healthy food to the members of Greenpeace and see how long it takes them to fold.
> The rice they are growing now is GM, but just done at random by farmers over a long time. Nothing in that process is any safer or moral than creating rice deliberately and carefully for a certain goal.
There is a difference, highly selected rice is different from rice that has had genes inserted. I don't think you can select for rice that produces beta carotene, golden rice is truly DNA edited rather than highly selected.
FWIW, to all the other points, this is the reason for opposition written in the article: “Farmers who brought this case with us [Greenpeace] – along with local scientists – currently grow different varieties of rice, including high-value seeds they have worked with for generations and have control over. They’re rightly concerned that if their organic or heirloom varieties get mixed up with patented, genetically engineered rice, that could sabotage their certifications, reducing their market appeal and ultimately threatening their livelihoods.”
I would interpret the primary concern stated there to be around mono-cultures. I don't personally know how salient of a concern it is, but it does make me think to examples where big 10,000 acre farms move in next to smaller existing farms, and suddenly it's near-impossible to keep the same seed stock.
