The Philipines
May 1, 2011
Source: Philippine Information Agency
The Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Bay, Laguna, has approved a resolution authorizing the field trial of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant at the University of the Philippines (UPLB).
The SB said the conduct of the trial is necessary to determine the benefits that farmers would derive from the tests and noted that the research being undertaken at UPLB is not synonymous to the mass propagation of the Genetically Modified (GM) vegetable.
Presentation by UPLB experts shows that the research by the UPLB-Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) was necessary to provide the performance of the vegetable under crop and find out if it does not pose any risk to humans and the environment.
The field test was covered by strict biosafety rules and closely monitored in compliance with government standards for agricultural biotechnology products.
Municipal Agriculturist Alexander G. Darvin also endorsed the field trial and added the rules covering biosafety and the commercialization of biotech crop took 10 years to craft and each crop has to pass through seven years of testing before it could be endorsed for commercialization.
He added that clear benefit to farmers and consumers is that Bt eggplant does not need to be subjected to treatment with pesticide since the vegetable itself develops its own defenses against fruit and shoot borers (FSB) that ruin crops.
The approval of the field trial of Bt eggplant within the UPLB campus by the Bay SB douses cold water on the attempt of Greenpeace to prevent all seven sites in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to continue the tests. (CPG/UPLB/Norida D. Sumilang, PIA-Calabarzon)
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