The objectives of breeding for better human nutrition and improved farm productivity coincide. There is still much work to be done before the golden rice reaches consumers. Genes have to be incorporated into high-yielding material, and the new varieties have to be made profitable for farmers, accepted by consumers, and shown to improve the nutritional status of malnourished people. It does not replace the need for other types of interventions such as dietary diversification, conventional fortification, and supplementation, but it can complement these alternatives and it can provide a long-term solution to the problem of micronutrient malnutrition, along with sustained dietary diversification. Plant breeding is highly cost-effective because basic research at a central location can be applied in a number of countries and, once the basic research is completed, recurrent annual costs decline sharply.
Proper citation is required.