RP still a biotech ‘mega country’

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Philippines — Still a biotechnology “mega-country”.

The Philippines planted genetically modified (GM) corn in 450,00 hectares in 2009, sustaining its ranking in the league of the world’s biotech “mega-countries”.

A mega-country is one that plants biotech or GM crops in 50,000 ha or more, as qualified by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).

New York (USA)-based ISAAA is a not-for-profit organization with an international network of centers designed to contribute to the alleviation of hunger and poverty by sharing knowledge and crop biotechnology applications. The network includes the Southeast Asian Center based in Los Baños.

Dr. Clive James, ISAAA founder and current board chairman, reported that the Philippines devoted 450,000 ha to Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) corn last year, up from 350,000 ha in 2008.

The Philippines initially planted Bt maize in 10,769 ha in 2003 when the crop was approved by the government for commercialization.

Dr. James reported the big strides of GM crops at a recent science forum billed “Global Overview of Biotech/GM Crops 2009: Current Status, Impact, and Future Prospects” held at the Dusit Thani Manila Hotel in Makati City.

Attended by scientists, researchers, academics, industry representatives, and media people, the seminar was dedicated to the late Dr. Norman Borlaug, 1970 Nobel Peace Laureate who was considered the “Father of the Green Revolution”. Dr. Borlaug, a regular visitor of the Philippines over the past few decades, died last Sept. 12 at 95.

“The adoption of biotech maize in the Philippines has increased consistently every year since it was first commercialized in 2003,” ISAAA noted.

It is the first country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region to implement a biotechnology regulatory system for transgenic crops. The system has also served as a model for other countries in Southeast Asia.

The system was formulated in 1990 with the issuance of Executive Order No. 430 establishing the National Biosafety Committee of the Philippines (NCBP).

“Future prospects look encouraging, with several ‘homegrown’ biotech products likely to be commercialized possibility that the Philippines might be the first country to commercialize Golden Rice around 2012,” ISAAA said.

The United States still topped the list of biotech “mega-countries” in 2009.

It planted 64 million hectares of biotech maize, ecosystem, cotton, canola, sugarbeat, alfalfa, papaya, and squash. Devoted for maize was 35.2 million ha (more than the Philippine’s total land area of 30 million ha). Soybean came in second with 31.4 million ha and upland cotton, 3.5 million ha.

Second to the US was Brazil, which planted 21.4 million ha to soybean, maize and cotton. It was followed by Argentina with 21.3 million ha also planted to maize, soybean and cotton.

India ranked fourth with 8.4 million ha planted to cotton. Canada devoted 8.2 million ha to canola, maize, soybean and sugarbeat.

Completing the top 10 biotech crop producers are China, 3.7 million ha; Paraguay, 2.2 million ha; South Africa, 2.1 million ha; Uruguay, 800,000 ha; and Bolivia, 800,000 ha.

The Philippines ranked 11th. The other biotech “mega-countries” are Australia, Burkina Faso, Spain, and Mexico.

The other nations that planted biotech crops in 2009 in lesser areas were Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Czech Republic, Portugal, Poland, Costa Rica, Egypt, and Slovakia. –Rudy A. Fernandez (The Philippine Star)