Farmers hail okay of biotech corn

Filipino farmers have lauded the recent approval by the Arroyo government of the guidelines for the domestic propagation of a popular biotechnology-processed corn variety which promises to radically increase farm yield without harming the environment.

The official approval for the commercial availability of the Bacillus Thurigiensis or Bt Corn was recently signed by Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) Director Blo Umpar Adiong after the government completed five years of rigid assessment of the crop variety.

Bt corn, internationally known as YieldGard, was subjected to a rigid process under the supervision of the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines. The variety was subsequently approved for commercialization by the BPI, the Bureau of Animal Industry, the Bureau of Agriculture and Food Product Standards, the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority and the Scientific and Technical Review Committee.

The approval for Bt corn followed the adoption by the Arroyo government of agricultural biotechnology as the anchor of its program and strategy for poverty alleviation, food security and sufficiency.

The policy was widely backed by farmers groups led by the Philippine Maize Federation, Inc. (PMFI), the biggest organization of corn farmers in the country.