Are all <scp>GMO</scp>s the same? Consumer acceptance of cisgenic rice in India

<jats:title>Summary</jats:title><jats:p>India has more than 215 million food‐insecure people, many of whom are farmers. Genetically modified (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GM</jats:styled-content>) crops have the potential to alleviate this problem by increasing food supplies and strengthening farmer livelihoods. For this to occur, two factors are critical: (i) a change in the regulatory status of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GM</jats:styled-content> crops, and (ii) consumer acceptance of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GM</jats:styled-content> foods. There are generally two classifications of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GM</jats:styled-content> crops based on how they are bred: cisgenically bred, containing only <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">DNA</jats:styled-content> sequences from sexually compatible organisms; and transgenically bred, including <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">DNA</jats:styled-content> sequences from sexually incompatible organisms. Consumers may view cisgenic foods as more natural than those produced via transgenesis, thus influencing consumer acceptance. This premise was the catalyst for our study—would Indian consumers accept cisgenically bred rice and if so, how would they value cisgenics compared to conventionally bred rice, <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GM</jats:styled-content>‐labelled rice and ‘no fungicide’ rice? In this willingness‐to‐pay study, respondents did not view cisgenic and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GM</jats:styled-content> rice differently. However, participants were willing‐to‐pay a premium for any aforementioned rice with a ‘no fungicide’ attribute, which cisgenics and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GM</jats:styled-content> could provide. Although not significantly different (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.16), 76% and 73% of respondents stated a willingness‐to‐consume <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">GM</jats:styled-content> and cisgenic foods, respectively.</jats:p>