Syngenta announced today the donation of new Golden Rice seeds and lines to the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board. The donation follows the successful completion of the first Golden Rice field trials and harvest in the USA last month; it also marks World Food Day on 16 October and the UN’s International Year of Rice this year.

Syngenta’s donation is intended for humanitarian objectives, to provide the basis for rice breeding for nutritional enhancement in different regions and developing countries. The donation includes the scientific results from the first field trial of Golden Rice and new lines containing significantly higher levels of beta-carotene as well as the related technology, rights and research.

The Golden Rice Humanitarian Board is led by Ingo Potrykus, Professor Emeritus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, and Professor Peter Beyer of the University of Freiburg, Germany, the leaders of the research team who first demonstrated pro-vitamin A production in rice. The Board also includes representatives of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Rockefeller Foundation, the international public initiative HarvestPlus and USAID, among others.

Syngenta developed the new strains of rice containing beta-carotene, which can be converted naturally by the human body into vitamin A. In many developing countries, one of the biggest causes of blindness is the lack of vitamin A and other micronutrients in children’s diets. The development of Golden Rice could help to address this challenge, although it must first undergo further required scientific, regulatory and social tests. Syngenta has supported this public project from its inception and will continue to do so. The company has no commercial interest in the Golden Rice project.

Syngenta is a world-leading agribusiness committed to sustainable agriculture through innova-tive research and technology. The company is a leader in crop protection, and ranks third in the high-value commercial seeds market. Sales in 2003 were approximately $6.6 billion. Syngenta employs some 19,000 people in over 90 countries. Syngenta is listed on the Swiss stock exchange (SYNN) and in New York (SYT).