Brown rice more nutritious

Let me express my appreciation of and gratitude for the excellent article titled “Redeeming the lost glory of brown rice” (Across the Nation, 12/3/14).

I have noticed that brown rice is more expensive although it needs less processing. I have also noticed that there are many rice hybrids and GMO varieties being promoted.
As someone who worked to make rice-growing less polluting to our environment, I am concerned that hybrids often require a heavy chemical input, much of which runs off into our streams, rivers, lakes and ocean. When growing rice with integrated rice duck methods, we use azolla and/or duckweed to provide extra nitrogen for the rice via the ducks. Small fish can also be integrated if the water level is sufficient, and then both the ducks and the fish will eat the azolla and excrete the nitrogen and other nutrients into the water. Aside from consuming insects and adding to the nutrients in the
water, the fish provide additional food and product for the farmer. In the past I was told that this will not provide sufficient nutrients for hybrid varieties and that we should plant old varieties that do well with the natural fertilizers provided by the ducks (recycled snails, weeds and insects).

Before I began my integrated rice duck project I visited both the International Rice Research Institute (Irri) and the Department of Agriculture. Scientists at Irri told me that too much rice is wasted through improper postproduction methods (such as drying palay on highways). A scientist at the DA told me that more rice is wasted by consumers. The wasted rice, all in all, is more than what is needed for the countryís self-sufficiency in rice.

Also, importing rice from abroad is detrimental to Filipino farmers as it inevitably lowers the price they get for their produce. Why not focus on eliminating waste rather than going to hybrid varieties that are likely to contaminate our water with chemical runoff?

One last point, the GMO “golden rice” mentioned in the article lacks some of the nutrients that are present in the rice bran—the bran is removed when rice is milled into the white rice that Filipinos prefer. I urge people to cook and enjoy brown rice, which still has the bran intact and is more filling and nutritious than the polished white rice. In fact, before I heard of the GMO golden rice, I was calling unpolished brown rice golden rice.

I was surprised that all things brown are considered inferior here in the Philippines. In my homeland of California, tanning salons, lotions and ointments turn the white into golden brown, a most desirable color… and with rice a most delicious and
nutritious one!

—ROWLAND LANE ANDERSON,
permaculturist at Tagpopongan Natural Farm, Veterans For Peace Mission to the Philippines, Davao City [email protected]