Down on the 'pharm'

Valid concerns have been raised about Ventria Bioscience's plan to grow genetically modified rice in Southeast Missouri. The main one is whether a "pharm crop" engineered to contain human medicines could contaminate the other rice being grown in the region.

Rice farmers want to protect their market. The European Union, for instance, will not accept transgenic material in the food it buys. Large rice consumers like Anheuser-Busch fear customers might stop buying their products if contamination is in question.

After Anheuser-Busch threatened to boycott Missouri rice, Gov. Matt Blunt, U.S. Sen. Kit Bond and U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson brokered a deal to move the Ventria operation at least 120 miles away from commercial growing area. Anheuser-Busch dropped the boycott threat, and Arkansas-based Riceland Foods Inc., the world's largest rice miller, has said its major concerns have been addressed. Many but not all Southeast Missouri farmers are happy with the solution.

Ventria had planned to grow 150 acres of genetically modified rice near Chaffee. Rice can be engineered to inexpensively produce proteins that could be used to treat severe dehydration due to diarrhea, a condition that kills more than 1.3 million children each year. The proteins are the same ones found in saliva, tears and mother's milk.

The question now facing the company is whether rice can be grown economically in other parts of the state. Rice-growing requires level ground and abundant irrigation, reasons Southeast Missouri grows most of the state's crop.

This week, Ventria's president said the company will have a difficult time growing any rice in Missouri this year because of the permitting process required. The company is looking at alternative sites in North Carolina and South America. But he said a Missouri crop is definitely part of the company's plans for 2006.