The Department of Agriculture has granted preliminary approval for a large-scale plan to grow genetically modified rice in Kansas, prompting some critics to raise safety concerns.

Sacramento, Calif.-based Ventria Bioscience wants to grow rice modified to produce human proteins on more than 3,000 acres of farmland near Junction City, Kan.

The pharmaceutical rice would be harvested and refined for use in medicines to fight diarrhea, dehydration and other illnesses that kill millions of infants and toddlers each year.

While Kansas officials have embraced the project as a boon to the state's emerging biosciences industry, environmentalists and some food groups warn the proteins could find their way into the food chain, causing medical reactions or allergies.