The Vegetable Industry Council of Southern Mindanao (VICSMin) has expressed its full support for the commercial planting of Bt eggplant in the country.
This came after its officers and members signed a one-page manifesto of support during the roundtable discussion on Bt Eggplant held September 4 in Davao City.
The one-day event was organized by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture – Biotechnology Information Center (SEARCA-BIC).
VICSMin with a strength of 40 active member institutions and 20 individual farmers is a non-profit organization that advocates policies beneficial to the vegetable industry in the region.
"Bt Eggplant is a modern variety, genetically modified with a high level of resistance against the eggplant fruit and shoot borer developed by UPLB Institute of Plant Breeding. It has a gene from a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt) that confers insecticidal property," says Bt Eggplant study leader Dr. Lourdes D. Taylo, Bt Eggplant study leader from the University of the Philippine Los Baños.
After a thorough discussion with Dr. Taylo on the science, safety, and the potential actual benefits of modern biotechnology, VICSMin in their one-page manifesto says:
"We realize that Bt Eggplant, which contains the gene similar to the insect-resistant Bt. Corn, can bring benefits to our communities such as higher yield and income, reduce chemical use, and improve environmental health."
"We believe that the Bt Eggplant is a healthier and safer alternative solution against the relentless insect-pest – the eggplant fruit and shoot borer (EFSB)," VICSMin adds.
Further VICSMin recognized that multi-location field trials of Bt Eggplant had been approved by the Bureau of Plant Industry, the regulatory arm of the Department of Agriculture as per Administrative Order No. 8, as part of the regulatory requirement of the said biotech crop, and in accordance with the new Joint Department Circular.
"We recognized the safety of the products of modern biotechnology that have passed food safety assessment based on international standards such as the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization CODEX Alimentarius Risk Analysis of Food Derived from Modern Biotechnology," VICSMin says.
"Dili pwede na sige lang ta ug yawyaw [It is not enough that we will just keep on whining]. Instead, we should be the force that will support this kind of technology which offer numerous benefits to our farmers as well as consumers," says VICSMin President Gienovivo A. Cajes. (Noel T. Provido)