The threat posed by superweeds on US corn and soya plantations have rekindled the demand of militant farmers and scientists for an end to the cultivation of hybrids. [...] Output also declined markedly after the soil was bombarded with chemical inputs and Masipag suspects that this is the culprit for soil sterility. The annual Asian rice growth rate of 3.4 percent in 1977 slid to only 1.5 percent in 1997.

By late 2011 or early 2012 the genetically modified (GM) fruit-and-shoot-borer-resistant (FSBR) eggplant will be available in the Philippines [Dr. Desiree Hautea, research professor of the University of the Philippines Los Baños and FSBR eggplant project leader] At the same time, she said that since the crop will be borer-free, it would increase the income of the farmers by 200 percent, or P50,000 additional income per hectare of production, thus reducing poverty among farmers.

A Catholic forum on World Earth Day rejected the commercial sale of genetically modified eggplants even though no safety issues related to the product have been recorded. Scientists must protect food supply, participants said. They should not play God by engineering new plant varieties using inadequate scientific methods that cannot allay fears, Gigi Chua, who helped to draft a forum statement on the issue, told UCA News.

THE International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Laguna announced a path-breaking research project that aims to develop—invent is more apt—a rice variety that needs less water and fertilizer but yields 50-percent more grain than the best present-day varieties. [...] It will take three years to prove the concept and 15 years to have a ”functioning C4 rice” to quote Achin Dobermann, the deputy director general for research of IRRI.

The International Rice Research Institute did not provide relief from farmers’ woes, instead created layers upon layers of burden. IRRIs rice technology caters only a few wealthy farmers, agricultural suppliers and multinational corporations in agriculture. It is very ironic that the small farmers, for whom IRRI claims to serve did not benefit from its advances. On the contrary, it has become servant to the interests of corporations in agriculture.

Taking keen interest in the controversy surrounding Bt brinjal in India, farmer and scientists from these countries assembled here under the Pan-Asia Farmers Exchange Programme discussed bio-safety, environmental and toxicity implications as well as food security aspect of the GM crops last week.

In an interview with Department of Agriculture (DA) assistant secretary Preceles Manzo, he said that although there is a big possibility that the Philippines will soon adopt the modernized farming concept of producing GMO rice, the government specifically the DA, and the BioTech Group of the national government, still have to work on a lot of things, specifically in establishing the ”protocols”, such as further study, public/farmers consultation, and as well as implementing rules and regulations.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Occidental yesterday approved on first reading a proposed ordinance promoting sustainable agriculture and biodiversity protection that will replace the ordinance banning the entry of genetically-modified organisms in the province. [... to] assist various farmers groups in the production of environment-friendly agricultural inputs and support the conduct of research on sustainable agriculture, including those involving GMO in accordance with existing national regulations.

The Philippines may follow China as the next Asian country to approve widespread planting of genetically modified rice crops, possibly as early as 2011, an industry expert said on Tuesday. The Philippines, the world’s largest rice importer, is one of several countries currently in field tests for GMO rice crops, Robert Zeigler, director general of the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), said at the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit.

Members of Green Alert Negros staged a picket yesterday in front of the Provincial Capitol to oppose the proposed Sangguniang Panlalawigan ordinance promoting sustainable agriculture and protecting biodiversity within the territorial jurisdiction of Negros Occidental. The group said it believes the ordinance is a ploy to deceive the public and allow GMO products in the province despite the anti-GMO ordinance.