Developing nations could really use a hand in producing foods that give people the nutritional value they lack. Similar to my previous story about Golden Rice, scientists have been able to breed a type of maize that has more vitamin A. The intention is to grow this maize in developing countries where maize is a staple crop, and lower the population of people living with vitamin A deficiency.
This story is different to that of the Golden Rice, because this maize was created using traditional breeding methods; it is not considered a genetically engineered variety, which faces major objections in developing countries.
This is an excellent development for food in developing countries. As previously mentioned, vitamin A deficiency causes blindness and the World Health Organization estimates that 500,000 children go blind every year from this deficiency. The target regions for this maize will be sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and India.
Full stories from the Ontario Farmer and SciDev.Net
