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Saturday, January 14, 2006
UP professor cites economic advantages of Bt-corn
GROWING the controversial Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is proving to be a lucrative cash crop compared to other corn varieties, a professor of the University of the Philippines said.
In a recent study titled "The Economic Impact of Bt Corn in the Philippines," Dr. Jose Yorobe of the University of the Philippines Los Baños College of Economics and Management, said that for both wet and dry seasons, Bt corn harvest is reportedly 34.32 percent higher than non-Bt corn varieties.
"In terms of pesos, Bt corn growers earn P1.34 more per kilogram than their non-Bt corn counterparts," Yorobe said.
Yorobe's study covers 107 Bt corn and 363 non-Bt corn farmers in the provinces of South Cotabato, Bukidnon, Isabela, and Camarines Sur.
For all locations in both dry and wet seasons, farmers reportedly earned an additional income of P10,132 per hectare for planting Bt corn, said Yorobe.
He based his study on data provided by International Services for the Acquisition of Agri-biotechnology Applications and from Monsanto Philippines, Inc, the company that was granted a license by the government in 2002 to commercialize the transgenic plant.
"The results clearly favor the national policy agenda of increased [corn] productivity and income for farmers," Yorobe said.
In 2002, the National Government approved the commercialization of Bt corn in a bid to increase the country's corn production volume despite strong oppositions from various groups.
Opposition to the transgenic crop was especially strong in South Cotabato province, considered the "hotbed" of anti-Bt corn movement in the country.
Before the government's approval in late 2002, farmers stormed and uprooted Bt corn plants at a field test site of Monsanto in Tampakan, South Cotabato the previous year.
Sought to comment Yorobe's findings, Fr. Romeo Catedral, Social Action Center director for the Diocese of Marbel, just down played the report.
"We have been receiving complaints from farmers in the area that they disdain the Bt corn," Fr. Catedral said.
The diocese has launched its own survey on Bt corn but Fr. Catedral said results are not yet available because only a few farmers returned the forms.
Opposition
Despite aggressive campaign of the agriculture officials to propagate Bt-corn commercially, local government of Surallah, South Cotabato is still discouraging farmers from planting the controversial genetically-engineered corn seed.
Surallah mayor Romulo Solivio Jr. instead urged farmers propagating other varieties through organic farming.
"We are pushing for sustainable organic agriculture, which means traditional or hybrid corn varieties except Bt corn," Solivio said.
In campaigning against Bt corn, Solivio also backed claims by groups opposed to the transgenic plant that Bt-corn poses risk to the environment and human health.
Solivio added that the local government, in pushing for sustainable organic farming, just wanted to ensure the food that residents eat are safe for consumption.
"Eventually, we want to make Surallah a 'chemical-free' municipality," the mayor stressed.
The anti-Bt corn stance of the local government unit drew support from the local Catholic Church hierarchy, which is spearheading the campaign against the controversial crop in the provinces of South Cotabato, Sarangani, and parts of Sultan Kudarat.
Fr. Catedral said other local government units in the area should follow the position of the Surallah government.
"Surallah town has finally set the example and this is a big push in our anti-Bt corn advocacy. The diocesan stance will not waver until there would be a world wide scientific consensus on the crop's safety to the environment and the human health," the priest noted.
But Monsanto officials here reiterated their position that Bt corn is a safe product, pointing to the series of tests conducted by government regulatory bodies prior to the crop's commercialization.
A company official earlier claimed that Bt corn has become "acceptable" to farmers in the diocesan territory.
Ronaldo Cayomo, Monsanto's corn lead for the area, said the utilization of Bt corn in the Socsksargen (South Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat-Sarangani-General Santos City) area has been on an upward trend supposedly due to the increased yield and income experienced by its users.
Farmers using Bt corn, a variety developed to fight the damaging corn borer, was said to have about 40 percent yield increase compared to traditional varieties.
Corn borer, according to a briefer from the regional Department of Agriculture, can reduce crop yield by 70 to 80 percent. (RBS)
(January 2, 2006 issue)
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