CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, June 23 (PIA) -- Department of Agriculture (DA) launched last Tuesday the country’s first Rice Biotechnology Demo Farm in the adjacent towns of Floridablanca in Pampanga and Dinalupihan in Bataan.

Farmers and stakeholders in the development of biotech crops held a communication workshop in Cagayan de Oro City to sharpen their skills in addressing biotech issues, particularly on Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant....

The IRM is one of the components of integrated pest management(IPM) which is seldom discussed and yet it is as important as the other aspects of pest management.

Biotechnology is a promising option, as it will not only increase agricultural output per small unit of input, but also helps in protecting, harnessing and conserving existing resources.
It is a modern tool that allows plant breeders to select genes that produce beneficial traits on crops such as increased yield, greater nutrition, resistance to pests and herbicide tolerance.

The harsh reality on the ground is that we are running out of arable land and irrigation water to produce enough food for our people. With our current population of about 95 million and available arable land of 10 million hectares, every Filipino has only 1,050 square meters of land with which to produce his/her food needs. With the continuing rapid growth of the population in the absence of a national consensus to moderate growth through family planning, and the rising inordinate conversion of arable land into industrial parks and settlements, per capita availability of land can only grow worse. The same is true for fresh water for irrigation....Dr. Emil Q. Javier

An Indian expert on biotechnology has asked the Department of Agriculture to scrutinize possible impacts of a genetically modified eggplant on human health and the environment, citing India’s haphazard study on the crop. Dr. Pushpa Bhargava, one of India’s leading biologists and a member of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee of India, warned the Agriculture department of dangers of conducting open field trials of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant in the absence of adequate and accurate scientific data and testing of its impact on environment and human health.

 

“As the Philippines hardly meets its food requirement particularly for major crops rice and corn, the national government should let farmers have a free choice on whether to plant GM or organic crops,” said DA-BAT Chairman Saturnina Halos in a seminar on Securing Food and Increasing Income.

 

Through modern biotechnology, an FSB-resistant variety, known as Bt eggplant, was developed by the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co., Ltd. (Mahyco) in India. By introducing a gene from the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a non-pathogenic, naturally-occurring bacterium found in the soil, the eggplant was rendered immune to FSB. It works in such manner that when an FSB ingests any part of the eggplant –fruit, shoot, or leaf, the pest would die due to the Bt protein.

The FSB-resistant eggplant lines developed by Mahyco have been used as source of the resistance trait of biotech eggplants in India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

 

The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) Bureau of Plant Industry Plant Quarantine Service (BPI-PQS) upgraded its molecular testing facility for plant pathogen and GMO detection in order to enhance efficiency and effectivity of lab analyses that comply with international standards... more

The Department of Agriculture through the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) is eyeing the establishment  of more coconut seedfarms in strategic coconut-growing areas for its latest hybrid - the Orgullo Tall SV San Ramon Coconut Variety....more

The Department of Agriculture (DA) through the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) and the Biotechnology Program Office (BPO) is eyeing the mass propagation of biological control agents to prevent the outbreak of the dreaded Brontispa longissima....more

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is pinning its hope on a farmer-scientist's malunggay seedlings propagation technique to address the increasing demand for malunggay planting materials in the country, an agriculture official said....more

A farmer-scientist has developed a protocol for malunggay seedlings propagation that could address the increasing demand for malunggay planting materials in the country.....more

Introduction of the high-yielding, bunchy top virus-resistant variety is expected to further boost the country's abaca industry, an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said yesterday...more

A high-yielding abaca variety that is resistant to the dreaded bunchy top virus, a makapuno embryo culture technology that ensures faster and low-cost production for the famous makapuno, and a synthetic coconut variety that can reproduce. These are just among the commercially-available agri-biotech products that will be offered during an investor's forum to highlight the celebration of the 5th National Biotechnology Week.....more

The Department of Agriculture (DA) through the Biotechnology Program Office (BPO) on Wednesday urged local investors to avail themselves of commercially-viable agricultural products made possible through the wonders of biotechnology.....more

AGRICULTURE officials are confident that the country's adoption of the Bt cotton technology from China and India will help boost the local cotton industry and rev up Philippine agriculture in the next few years.

TWO local officials of the province of Negros Occidental are eyeing to amend, if not repeal a measure that bans the entry of genetically-modified crops citing the need to introduce 'superior crops' that could survive the worst impacts of climate change for the benefit the farmers in the province.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is stepping up the propagation of malunggay seedlings in time for the massive cultivation of the 'poor man's vegetable'.

Farmers who have picked the lowly malunggay over other high-value vegetables will gather to boost the development of the malunggay industry in the Philippines during the 2nd Malunggay National Congress on November 24 at the De La Salle University in Manila.

Extreme weather events triggered by climate change make research and development of more 'superior' crops that grow faster, bigger and produce higher yields, more relevant.

A series of activities highlighting the many opportunities offered by biotechnology advances to improve the quality of life of Filipinos will be showcased during 5th National Biotechnology Week at the Nido Fortified-Science Discovery Center (SDC), SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

Can genetically and non-genetically modified crops coexist? More importantly, can the Philippines benefit from such coexistence in the agricultural supply chain?......more

The government is stepping up the revitalization of the abaca industry in Mindanao, with the establishment of a P3.5 million tissue culture laboratory in Marawi City.

Moringa oleifera, locally known in the Philippines as malunggay, is no longer the backyard vegetable that it used to be, primarily because of its association to as "nature's pharmacy."