Biodiversity campaigners are bombarding a Texas company with postcards urging
it to abandon its recently granted patent (US 5 663 484) on genetically modified
rice. RiceTec’s patent, entitled “Basmati rice lines and grains”, claims that
its novel strains produce rice “similar or superior to those of good quality
basmati rice grains”.
Growers in Asia are outraged by the appropriation of the name “basmati”. They
fear having to pay royalties on traditional crops if they become crossed with
the new strains. The protesters are urging Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein,
the chairman of RiceTec’s parent company, to correct this “grave injustice”.
