International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research________________________________ ISSN 2277-3630 IJSSIR, Vol. 5 (1), JANUARY (2016), pp. 50-56 Online available at indianresearchjournals.com 50 THE POLITICS OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED GOLDEN RICE (GR): PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES PROF. BINCE MATHEW MAR ATHANASIUS COLLEGE KOTHAMANGALAM, KERALA. DR. BASIL B. MATHEW MAR ATHANASIUS COLLEGE KOTHAMANGALAM, KERALA. ABSTRACT The improvement of plants and livestock for food production and the use of different conservation techniques have been practice as long as the human kind stopped migrating relying on agriculture for survival. With the quest to grow more food to meet the demand of our fast growing population, genetic engineering of crops has become a new platform in addition to plant breeding. Golden rice is a variety of rice produced through genetic engineering to biosynthesis beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. The research of the golden rice was conducted with the goal of producing a fortified food to be grown and consumed in areas with the shortage of dietary vitamin A. Here we explore the debate surrounding golden rice and the politics of Genetic modified organism and the concerns and challenges. KEY WORDS: Golden rice, Genetically Modified Organisms, GMOs, VAD, IRRI. Introduction The improvement of plants and livestock for food production and the use of different conservation techniques have been practice as long as the human kind stopped migrating relying on agriculture for survival. With the quest to grow more food to meet the demand of our fast growing population, genetic engineering of crops has become a new platform in addition to plant breeding. Golden rice is a variety of rice produced through genetic engineering to biosynthesis beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. The research of the golden rice was conducted with the goal of producing a fortified food to be grown and consumed in areas with the shortage of dietary vitamin A. Here we explore the debate surrounding golden rice and the politics of Genetic modified organism and the concerns and challenges. Development of Golden rice Golden Rice (GR) is genetically engineered rice with the capability to produce beta carotene, the precursor of vitamin A. GR was invented to provide a new intervention to compact Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD). It was developed through genetic engineering to produce beta