September 22, 2014
Genetic engineering helps Philippines grow enough corn, USDA says
The US Department of Agriculture has cited the Philippines for having attained self-sufficiency in corn through genetic engineering (GE).
In a recent report, the USDA''s Foreign Agricultural Service said that GE corn,on sale in the country since 2003, comprised 28% of the Philippines'' planted corn area last year.
Having successfully propagated GE corn over the past decade"with no environmental or health issues whatsoever," the Philippines continues to be a regional leader in biotech research and commercialization, as well as a model for science-based and thorough genetic engineering (GE) regulatory policy, the USDA said.
In July, the Philippines agriculture department announced that the country produced enough corn last year for its own consumption,especially for feedlot, saving the country PHP60 billion (US$350.74 million) on corn imports between 2010 and 2013.
Edilberto de Luna, director of the agriculture department''s National Corn Programme, said local corn production reached self-sufficiency in 2013 based on market demandof the local feed and livestock industry.
He explained, however, that the real test for self-sufficiency is having a one-month buffer stock.The country, de Luna said, "hopes to achieve (this) very soon."
Corn production in the Philippines has grown from 3.4 tonnes per hectare to 4.2 tonnes per hectare in the past few years, "mainly to better, more high-yielding seeds and new technology." de Luna said.
As the first Southeast Asian country to commercialize locally developed GE crops, the Philippines attracted attacks from domestic and international anti-GE groups.
Following a suit by activist groups, the Philippine Court of Appealsstopped in 2012 bio-technology trials for eggplant, rice and other crops..
The court''s decision, widely criticized by prominent Philippine scientists, farmers and student groups, did not apply to GE corn which at the time was past the trial stage.
The court did not stop nor criticise the GE corn''s commercialisation.
The USDA report also said overall corn [GE] production and area harvested last year declined by 0.4% and 1.2%, respectively, compared with the previous year''s levels, adding that "aggregate GE corn area declined marginally [0.2%] from 729,000 hectares in 2012 to 728,000 hectares in 2013."
Last year, GE corn accounted for over 28.4%, or 728,000 hectares of all Philippine corn-planted areas, which is estimated at 2.6 million hectares, higher than 28.12% ratio in 2012.
The decline in overall corn production and area last year, as well as the area harvested for GE corn, the USDA said, is largely attributed to several devastating typhoons that hit the Philippines during the year.
It noted, however, that despite the decline, 2013 corn yields were slightly higher at 2.88 tonnes per hectare, compared to the 2012 average yield of 2.86 tonnes per hectare.
As of April, there were six (up from five in the previous annual report) GE (crops) approved for commercial production in the Philippines, and "all approved GE crops are in 10 yellow corn varieties approved for feed and food use," the report also said.
According to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, the Philippines was the 12th-largest country globally in terms of area planted to GE crops last year, and since its introduction in 2003, "GE corn has been planted in over 4 million hectares in the Philippines," it said.