Angry at IRRI

For us Asians, life is unimaginable without rice. Everyday, we have rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, even for snacks and dessert. Rice fields are the most recognisable feature of our landscape. Many of our ancestors and compatriots are rice farmers.

However, disturbing changes have occurred. Rice farmers, instead of reaping the benefits of their hard labor, have become poorer. Their rice fields are turning sterile. The rice we most commonly eat is infused with chemicals and in danger of genetic modification. Indeed, rice production and consumption in Asia today is problematic, no thanks to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).