Scientists working on the Fruit and Shoot Borer Resistant (FSRB)
Eggplant Project have started harvesting the vegetable from an experimental plot
in Bay, Laguna, with the third backcross of the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)
eggplant showing no infestation at all.
Dr. Josefina O. Narciso, principal investigator of the
project, said the Bt eggplants they had harvested showed superior qualities,
bringing their work to fruition and moving the country closer to promoting the
biotechnologically enhanced vegetable in the market.
The eggplants were harvested to allow scientists to gather
enough seeds for planting since multi-location field trials on the Bt eggplant
will have to be undertaken in the next few months, Narciso said.
They are eyeing areas in Luzon, particularly in Bicol,
Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija and Batangas provinces for planting the biologically
enhanced vegetable, which is a regular part of the Filipino diet.
The trial will be under national cooperative type trial for
variety release and recommendation by the National Seed Council (NSC).
Bt eggplants were grown at the Biological Level II facility
within the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) in UP Los Banos last October. The
transplant was approved by the National Committee on Biosafety of the
Philippines (NCBP) for confined trial as early as September 2007.
The Bt eggplant varieties, the Dumaguete Long Purple (DLP),
which is longer and bigger, and Mara, which is medium length, were backcrossed
with a variety induced with Bt, a soil bacterium that naturally kills insects,
like the fruit and shoot borer (FSB) that destroys eggplants.
Eggplant, scientifically known as Solanum melongena L. is a
good source of vitamins, fibers, and minerals. It is the No. 1 vegetable in the
Philippines in both volume and areas under cultivation.
The project aims to reduce losses from pest, which is so
destructive that it eats up between 51 percent and 73 percent of eggplants in
many farms.
Narciso said she hopes Bt eggplant would yield more than the
traditional varieties, which range from eight to 10 tons per hectare.
Through biotechnology, scientists working on the project were
able to backcross Bt eggplant from India, developed by the Indian Mahashtra
Hybrid Seeds Co., Ltd. (Mahyco) with help from Monsanto Co.
ABSPII FSBR Eggplant Project members backcrossed the round
eggplant with with two local varieties and confined trial started on December
21, 2007. The seedlings were transplanted to a 2,700 sq. m. experimental lot in
Bay, Laguna, next to the Papaya Ring Spot Virus–Resistant papaya transplanted
last Friday.
"I’m happy with the result," she said. Samples from the field
showed the Bt-positive eggplants had no damage while the ordinary eggplants were
attacked by FSB. "This means that that Bt in the eggplant is there," Narciso
added.
Harvesting will continue for the next two months and Narciso
said they will try to produce as many seeds as are needed to gather planting
materials for the next step.
As required by the NCBP, the eggplants will be properly
disposed of. "They will be uprooted, chopped, boiled and buried to prevent
contamination," she said.
Narciso said they were happy with the horticultural characteristics of the
eggplant and added they looked very much like their parent varieties, only that
they were not damaged despite infestation by FSB. – biolife news service
