Biotechnology to end use of costly pesticides — experts

A panel of Filipino scientists believes that there will eventually be no need for expensive pesticides among corn farmers following successful tests and subsequent cultivation of genetically modified, disease-resistant Bt corn in many farms in South Cotabato.

Led by Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro, the experts said Bt corn, which uses the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis and was initially cultivated in 129 hectares of farms in South Cotabato in 2002, is resistant to borers, which destroy up to 80 percent of the corn produced in the country.

Bt corn was developed to resist borers at the genetic level, meaning that its gene carry the code to reject borers. Corn borers are also the single reason why aflatoxin, a confirmed carcinogenic, has contaminated local corn. Aflatoxin comes from the molds that borers create in corn.

Speaking at the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City last Saturday, Alabastro said that the cumulative savings for farmers would be great if Bt corn is cultivated in most farms nationwide.

To date, she revealed, 5,000 hectares of corn farms are now cultivating Bt corn from the initial 129 hectares allowed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) for experimental use.

The particular Bt corn variety that has shown positive results is MON 810, which was field tested and later distributed by Monsanto, a US multinational.

Alabastro noted the fears expressed by farmers on the use of Bt corn has been diminished by scientifically verifiable results showing no debilitating effects among cultivators.

Neither has there been any proof that super weeds or monster corn would result because of the prolonged cultivation of Bt corn, she added.

"Now the people must have an open choice to use biotechnology so that the government can provide adequate measures for food security and health and be able to enhance our local agricultural and economic industries," she added.

For her part, Alice Ilaga of the DA Biotechnology Implementation Unit said Filipino scientists are now preparing to develop Pinoy GMOs, including the locally grown Bt corn and other biotechnology products being field-tested.

Dr. Saturnina Halos, chief of the Department of Agriculture-Biotechnology Advisory Team (DA-BAT), stressed that there is no longer any doubt as to the higher yields of Bt corn.

Halos is pushing for stronger biotechnology research in the country, saying biotechnology is the wave of the future for Philippine agriculture, stressing that it offers the best way to get rid of pesticides and viral diseases that have ravaged corn, abaca, tomatoes and other agricultural products.

An independent study conducted by a professor from the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB) also showed that Bt corn yields are higher than local varieties.

Dr. Benigno Peczon, president of the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines (BCP), added that the average yield for farmers using traditional corn varieties is a low 2.7 tons of corn per hectare.

On the other hand, the yield of Bt corn ranges from 6 tons to 10 tons per hectare, meaning that the increase averages more than 100 percent, and this has encouraged more farmers to shift to Bt corn.

With higher average yields and the eventual obsolescence of pesticides in Bt corn farms, Alabastro, Halos and Peczon said the incomes of corn farmers would eventually increase.

They said that farmers from as far south as Lanao del Sur and those in Pampanga are now convinced about the beneficial characters of Bt corn and other biotechnology products.