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Journalism of Courage
The vitamin-rich ‘golden rice’ variety has some healthy competition: scientists at the International Crops Research Institute of the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad have found a variety of bajra, or pearl millet, that is equally soaked in Vitamin A.
And unlike the genetically modified golden rice, this millet variety is naturally grown and may thus gain greater acceptability.
Crop scientists at ICRISAT first noticed the golden yellow coloured pearl millet in varieties collected from Burkina Faso in Africa. They identified a naturally growing variety of the bajra—the hardy, drought resistant plant grown in poor quality rain fed soil—that, with traditional plant breeding, could lead to a ‘‘golden millet’’. Now, they’re working on incorporating its character through traditional breeding methods into Indian varieties.
It has taken the scientists three years to reach a stage where they say they have an ‘‘intermediate product’’ to the now achievable goal of producing a ‘‘golden millet’’. India produces around seven million tones of bajra every year, grown in drought-prone areas in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
Dr C Tom Hash, the scientist who discovered the variety, said, ‘‘This golden millet has the potential of providing ICRISAT and its research partners with a project to demonstrate what can be done by linking conventional plant breeding and the tools of molecular biology to address a major health issue of some of the world’s poorest people. The question is, whether there is the political will in the donor and research communities to make a reasonable attempt to do so.’’
