Some rice-producing nations may drop their reluctance to use genetically modified (GM) seeds in the next few years to help offset a crisis that has forced millions to go hungry, a top expert said. ”If we consider the challenges that face us, I think we would be very foolish and actually irresponsible to not invest in the development of GM crops,” said Robert Zeigler, director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). ”I think that governments will take a hard look and say why again are we dragging our feet in adopting GM technology,?” he told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is open to a meeting with advocates and stakeholders of biotechnology in a dialogue, according to Malolos Bishop Jose Oliveros. Oliveros. who chairs the CBCP Office on Bioethics stressed a dialogue will enlighten all stakeholders and even anti-biotechnology and anti-genetically modified organism (GMO) groups and all parties must be invited to such a discussion.

A militant farmers’ group on Tuesday warned the National Food Authority (NFA) against importing rice particularly from the United States as these may be genetically modified. In a telephone interview with GMANews.TV, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas spokesman Carl Ala said importing rice from the US increases the danger of exposing local consumers to genetically modified rice.

Within two years, the Philippines will be a commercial producer of genetically modified (GM) eggplant and papaya. This is the timetable of studies being done at the University of the Philippines Los Baños-Institute of Plant Breeding (UPLB-IPB). In a 1.5-hectare fenced field experimental area within the sprawling UPLB complex, GM eggplants are lushly growing while biotech papaya plants have just been transplanted.

Greenpeace on Thursday warned the government, specifically the National Food Authority (NFA), that the shipment of rice being offloaded at the Naval Supply Depot could be contaminated with genetically modified organisms (GMO), which is illegal in the country. Daniel Ocampo, Greenpeace campaigner for South East Asia said the current shipment should be quarantined and tested using the European Union protocol before it is distributed to the market. Ocampo told The Manila Times that the shipment on board MV Liberty Eagle is part of the food for peace program.

Monsanto, world’s pioneer in modern biotechnology, is introducing an old conservation practice, ”contour farming,” on corn expansion areas targetted by government at 75,000 hectares of hilly grasslands. Advanced in technology yet conscious of current environmental protection needs, Monsanto has already started adopting a farm conservation practice in areas where it supplies genetically modified (GM) Bacillus thuringiensis (borer-resistant Bt corn) and Roundup Ready (herbicide-resistant) corn.

Plant biotechnology regulators and decision-makers from all over Southeast Asia will convene for a learning forum on Rationalizing and Harmonizing Plant Biotechnology Regulations in Southeast Asia (SEA) in Bangkok, Thailand. [...] The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Program for Biosafety Systems in Southeast Asia (PBS SEA), in collaboration with the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), are organizing the said forum.

Genetically modified (GMO) Golden Rice may be available to farmers as early as 2011, possibly helping to save millions of children threatened with blindness or premature death due to Vitamin A deficiency. Robert Zeigler, director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), told Reuters it expected to release the GMO rice, enriched with Vitamin A, by 2011. It was conducting its first field trials in the Philippines this year.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is receiving significant new funding to harness major scientific advances and address some of the biggest unsolved problems in agriculture. IRRI’s new project will help develop and distribute improved varieties of rice that can be grown in rainfed ecosystems—where farmers have little or no access to irrigation—and withstand environmental stresses such as drought, flooding, and salinity.

A bill seeking a ban on the entry of genetically modified organisms in the Philippines has been filed by party-list legislators, the House of Representatives said in a press release. House Bill 2224 proposes to prohibit the entry, processing, field testing and release of crops and food products containing GMO into and within the country and imposing penalties for its violation. The bill aims to keep the country’s food and agriculture free from GMO at this time when there are still unresolved questions on its possible adverse effects on human health and environment, Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño, one of the authors, said.