NGO disputes claim
of Bt corn acceptance

By JOB REALUBIT

A NON-government organization yesterday debunked claims of a biotechnology firm and a non-profit organization promoting agricultural biotechnology that Bt corn was widely adopted in the country, citing research they conducted in 2006 showing that the genetically-modified (GM) corn has miserably failed in its promised benefit.

According to Southeast Asia Regional Initiative for Community Empowerment (SEARICE), only three percent of the 790 farmers they interviewed in Isabela, Bukidnon and North Cotabato have planted Bt corn in the first cropping season of 2006, or during the months of May to September. The farmers pointed out they did not replant GM corn after the first time they planted it in 2003 to 2006.

"The overwhelming majority chose to plant non-Bt corn varieties, a trend that amounts to market rejection of Bt corn technology. Most of the farmers interviewed in the three provinces were not convinced of its claimed benefits of higher yields and pest resistance," Agnes Lintao, SEARICE policy officer who conducted the research said.

Lintao pointed out that in Isabela, the highest corn-producing province among the three, only six percent of farmer-respondents planted Bt corn, while Bukidnon, the second highest corn producer, had the lowest adoption rate at less than one percent.

North Cotabato, which is the fourth largest corn-producing province, has barely three percent farmers' adoption.

"High cost was the topmost reason cited by the farmers for their non-adoption including those who chose not to repeat the planting of Bt corn during the period 2003-2006. Despite the hype mounted for this biotech crop, farmers remain unconvinced on investing to this crop and adopting the technology," Lintao said.

A hectare of corn farm, according to SEARICE, would normally need at least 22 kilograms of seeds. Monsanto's YieldGard Bt corn seeds cost around P250 to P277.78 per kilogram while ordinary hybrid corn seeds cost around P108.70 to P130 per kilogram.

Monsanto is the biotech firm that supplies GM corn seeds in the country.

"The higher cost of planting Bt corn is immediately a disincentive to most farmers and shows that the capacity to adopt Bt corn technology is largely limited to cash-endowed farmers," Lintao pointed out.

SEARICE said the massive promotion of Bt corn since it was commercialized did not improve the country's overall corn production as importation continued at high volumes every year.

According to the Philippine Association of Feed Millers (PAFMI), importation reached 279,642 metric tons (MT) in 2006. The Department of Agriculture (DA) approved an import volume of 400,000 MT of yellow corn to fill an expectedly big supply shortfall in 2007 registering the highest imports in five years.

Lintao also said their research showed that non-awareness of the technology was the second top reason cited by the farmers for not replanting the GM corn, followed by unconvinced yield performance.

Other farmers reasoned that they were still observing the performance of the technology from the other farmers who planted Bt corn.

"Incidences of corn borer infestation in Bt corn varieties have discouraged farmers from replanting them in succeeding seasons. Beside the corn borer problem, farmers observed that Bt corn varieties were also susceptible to infestation from aphids, as well as stalk rot and leaf diseases," Lintao maintained.

Monsanto's corn borer resistant maize variety, MON810 was the first genetically-modified crop approved for commercialization in the Philippines in 2003 despite public objections and concerns raised by SEARICE.

"This highlights the commanding influence of transnational seed companies in the country's corn seed industry and earned the Philippines' disgrace as the first Asian country to allow the planting of GMOs," Lintao said.

The study also prompted SEARICE to closely look at the statistical claim of Monsanto and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agricultural Biotech Application (ISAAA) claiming that 200,000 hectares of corn production areas all over the country are planted with Bt corn in 2006.

ISAAA is a US-based non-profit organization that gives new agricultural biotechnologies to developing countries such as the Philippines.

According to SEARICE, the DA's Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) data on the projected Bt corn plantings per season based on aggregate and cumulative seed companies' sales from 2003-2006 indicate 188,669 hectares, closely matching this claim.

"Their figure is highly misleading because this is not even the actual sales they achieved. There is no way to verify the actual volume of sales of Bt corn seeds since the DA-BPI does not require the companies to produce this report. However, DA-BPI never tried to correct the erroneous and misleading use of data by Monsanto and ISAAA," Lintao said.