Negros officials and representatives from the private sector believe that in a few years, a shared goal of making the island “the organic food bowl of Asia” can be achieved. But, amidst efforts to go totally organic, there is at least one serious hitch that needs to be addressed immediately – the use of genetically-engineered (GE) farm produce such as the Bt corn. If stringent measures are adopted right away against the Bt corn, officials may have to think twice about the consequences and the impact it will have on the farmers using the GE variety, said Oriental Negros Board Member Pryde Henry Teves.

The commercialization in three years of the genetically-modified Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton marks the revival of the local cotton industry that largely depends on import for its sustenance. After two years of going through import procedures for Bt cotton seeds to be shipped from China, the Philippines will finally be able to conduct field testings on the Bt cotton where authorities bank their hope on displacing the country’s yearly P2.4-billion cotton lint imports and raising farmers’ yield and income.

A hefty leap in the growing of genetically modified Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn by more than 100 percent to 200,000 hectares in 2006 is contributing to the Philippines’ achieving a significant level of corn sufficiency. [...] Dr. Emil Q. Javier, National Academy of Science and Technology president, said the Philippines needs to develop more GM or hybrid corn varieties particularly for the white corn which is a staple of Visayas and Mindanao natives. "The bigger challenge is in white corn. The private sector is now taking up the task of developing this," he said.

Thanks to India, the Philippine vegetable industry will soon include genetically modified (GM) eggplant as one of the prized food crops. Said to be the first GM eggplant in South and Southeast Asia, the new pest-resistant eggplant was developed by the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) based in Jaina, India. It was introduced in the Philippines three years ago and it is now in the final stage of trial in greenhouse at the University of the Philippine Los Baños-Institute of Plant Breeding (UPLB-IPB).

upermarkets in Metro Manila, the Philippines’ most populous region, are still selling Uncle Sam Texas Long Grain Rice even if it was confirmed last November to be contaminated with a genetically-engineered (GE) strain disapproved for human consumption. Greenpeace expressed “shock and disgust” over the failure of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to recall the GE-tainted rice from supermarkets to protect consumers, despite the government agency’s pronouncements last December that it is “vigilantly inspecting” U.S. rice meant for export to the Philippines to block the entry of the disapproved genetically-modified rice.

The Philippines has sufficient laws such as the Intellectual Property (IP) Code and the Magna Carta for Science and Technology Workers (MCST) to back up commercialization of startup technologies, but government has to codify these to encourage extensive patenting and licensing for these technologies. Congress, in fact, may no longer need to come up with a law similar to the US’s Bayh Dole Act as suggested by some sectors since these existing laws already warrant patenting-licensing which will give commercial incentives to inventors including those in the agricultural biotechnology industries.

Many of the "good guys" in the insect world are back in Philippine farms. In corn fields, particularly. Credit for this encouraging development goes mainly to genetically modified organisms (GMO), specifically the so-called Bt corn. Bt stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium that naturally occurs in soil. Through biotechnology (genetic engineering) technique, a specific gene of Bt has been introduced or inserted in a corn variety. The Bt corn produces its natural pesticide against the Asian corn borer, one of the most destructive pests attacking corn in the Philippines and in other Asian countries.

Scientists are developing a genetically-modified (GM) abaca to come up with a variant that is resistant to major viral diseases threatening the country's fiber industry. The project aims to come up with the GM-abaca that is resistant to bunchy-top, mosaic and bract mosaic viruses by 2011, a report from the Biotechnology for Life Media and Advocacy Resource Center said Monday. A P20-million budget has been proposed to finance the project. This will be led by the Fiber Industry Development Authority and the Biotechnology Program Implementation Unit of the Department of Agriculture.

Thailand, Vietnam slam doors against GE rice as contamination spreads further

Manila, PHILIPPINES — Greenpeace today revealed that illegal GE (genetically-engineered) rice has contaminated the Philippine food chain, in the latest in a series of GE rice contamination scandals around the world. Bayer's LL601—which has not been approved for human consumption anywhere in the world except in the US last week—has contaminated rice products from the US which are currently on sale in Manila. The brand found to be contaminated by GE rice is "Uncle Sam Texas Long Grain Rice" which is distributed in the Philippines by Purefeeds Inc and sold in major supermarkets like Robinson's, Shopwise, and SM.

THE three-day international conference on organic farming held at the L'Fisher Hotel in Bacolod concluded as a success Thursday with the signing of a Declaration on Organic Agriculture and Trade by representatives from pro-organic organizations. The declaration is aimed at seeking to build upon windows for organic trade with Europe and the world.