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Thursday, January 29, 2004
20T hectares planted with Bt-corn
THE Philippines has reportedly grown about 20,000 hectares of the genetically-engineered bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn in 2003 as it joined 17 other countries worldwide which planted various transgenic crops.
According to biotechnology research group International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), the country was among 11 developing countries and seven other industrial countries that planted about 67.7 million hectares of Genetically Modified (GM) crops last year.
Based on the 2003 global status report of commercialized transgenic crops issued this week by ISAAA's Southeast Asian Center based in Manila, the global area of transgenic crops continued to grow for the seventh consecutive year at a sustained double-digit growth rate of 15 percent compared with 12 percent in 2002.
"The 67.7 million hectares of GM crops in 2003 was grown by at least 7 million farmers in 18 countries, an increase from 6 million farmers in 16 countries in 2002," the report read.
The 15 percent increase in area between 2002 and 2003 is equivalent to 9 million hectares or 22 million acres.
Bt corn, which was developed to resist Asiatic corn borers, was distributed commercially in the country beginning last year after obtaining approval from the government in late 2002.
The transgenic crop, produced by US-based seed company Monsanto, was the first biotech crop to be approved for commercial planting in the Philippines, and is one of the first biotech food crops to be approved for planting in Asia.
The planting of Bt corn in the country was noted in the provinces of Bukidnon, South Cotabato and Isabela, where the field tests were earlier conducted, as other corn-producing areas in the country.
ISAAA global coordinator Randy Hautea noted the production of Bt corn is seen to expand to 50,000 hectares this year local farmers begin to realize the benefits of planting the transgenic crop, particularly its resistance to the Asian corn borer and its yield is much higher than the traditional corn variety.
The Asian corn borer is a kind of pest that cause considerable damage to corn crops particularly in Mindanao and the Cagayan Valley based on research conducted by ISAAA.
The research shows that the yield of Bt corn is 41 percent higher than that of the traditional corn variety. Cost of production is 24 percent lower with Bt corn.
ISAAA said that from 1996 to 2003, the global area of transgenic crops increased 40 folds or from 1.7 million hectares to 67.7 million hectares, with an increasing proportion grown by developing countries.
"Almost one-third (30 percent) of the global transgenic crop area of 67.7 million hectares in 2003, equivalent to over 20 million hectares, was grown in developing countries where growth continued to be strong," it said.
The number of countries growing GM crops has increased steadily from 6 in 1996, to 9 in 1998, to 13 in 2001, and 18 in 2003.
Globally, in 2003, ISAAA noted that growth continued in all four commercialized GM crops which are soybean, maize, cotton and canola.
It said GM soybean occupied 41.4 million hectares (61 percent of global GM area) or up from 36.5 million hectares in 2002 while GM maize was planted on 15.5 million hectares (23 percent of global GM area) or up substantially from 12.4 million hectares in 2002.
Transgenic cotton was grown on 7.2 million hectares (11 percent of global GM area) compared with 6.8 million hectares in 2002 and GM canola occupied 3.6 million hectares (5 percent of global GM area), up from 3.0 million hectares in 2002.
In 2003, the global market value of GM crops is estimated to be $4.50 to $4.75 billion, having increased from $4.0 billion in 2002 when it represented 15% of the $31 billion global crop protection market and 13% of the $30 billion global commercial seed market.
The market value of the global transgenic crop market is based on the sale price of transgenic seed plus any technology fees that apply. The global value of the GM crop market is projected at $5 billion or more, for 2005. Allen V. Estabillo
(January 29, 2004 issue)
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