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</font></font><a class="date"><em><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#666666" size="2">Posted 06 March 2010</font></em></a><br><br><a class="country"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#336600" size="2"><strong>GLOBAL</strong></font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"> <br>
1-ISAAA: PREDICTED SECOND WAVE OF BIOTECH GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT BEGINS<br><br></font><a class="country"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#336600" size="2"><strong>PHILIPPINES</strong></font></a><br><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">2-PHILIPPINES REMAINS AT THE FOREFRONT OF BIOTECH ADOPTION IN ASIA<br>
3-NATIONAL SCIENTIST CITES NEED FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY<br>4-AREAS PLANTED TO ‘Bt’ CORN 14% WIDER<br>5-HIGH-YIELD CORN EXPANSION TO SLOW DOWN BECAUSE OF EL NIÑO<br>6-AREA PLANTED WITH BT CORN SEEN TO HAVE FALLEN SHORT<br>7-RP AMONG COUNTRIES WITH GROWING BIOTECH CROP SHARE<br>
<br></font><a class="country"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#336600" size="2"><strong>CHINA</strong></font></a><br><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">8-CHINA ‘Bt’ RICE OK TO BOOST SUPPLY<br>
9-CHINA ON WAY TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN RICE, CORN<br></font></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr>
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<div align="left"><font size="2"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><strong>1-ISAAA: PREDICTED SECOND WAVE OF BIOTECH GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT BEGINS<br><em>Developing countries recognize biotechnology as a key to food self-sufficiency and prosperity</em> <br>
</strong>23-February-2010 </font></font><a href="http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/41/pressrelease/default.asp" target="_blank"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#0000ff" size="2">ISAAA Press Release</font></a><br>
<br><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">BEIJING, CHINA (Feb. 23, 2010) – Last year, ISAAA predicted biotech crops were poised for a new wave of growth. Substantial gains have already been made in 2009 that are starting to bring that prediction to fruition. With 14 years of regulatory experience, growth can be accelerated moving forward.<br>
<br>One of the most significant advances in 2009 included a landmark November decision by China issuing biosafety certificates for biotech insect-resistant rice and phytase maize. As rice is the most important food crop globally, feeding half of humanity, and maize is the most important feed crop in the world, these biosafety clearances can have enormous implications for future biotech crop adoption in China, Asia, and around the world. The crops must complete 2 to 3 years of standard registration field trials prior to commercialization. <br>
<br>“With last year’s food crisis, price spikes, and hunger and malnutrition afflicting more than 1 billion people for the first time ever, there has been a global shift from efforts for just food security to food self-sufficiency,” said Clive James, chairman and founder of ISAAA. “With a current population of 1.3 billion, biotech crops are a critical component for China and other countries to gain self-sufficiency.” <br>
<br>As the largest rice producing country, China suffers significant losses from rice borer. Bt rice has the potential to increase yields up to 8 percent, decrease pesticide use by 80 percent (17 kg/ha) and generate US$4 billion in benefits annually. <br>
<br>“This would have a direct and extensive increase on the prosperity of about 440 million Chinese who rely on rice production,” said Dr. Dafang Huang, former director at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. “With hundreds of millions of small farmers in our country, biotech crops can serve as an engine for agricultural economic growth and bring prosperity to these small farmers.” <br>
<br>China is also the second largest maize producer in the world, with about 100 million farmers growing 30 million hectares of the grain. Increasing prosperity in the country is creating an increased demand for animal protein, making maize a key resource. The improved phytase maize will allow China’s 500 million pigs and 13 billion chickens and other poultry to more easily digest phosphate, improving the animal’s growth and reducing the amount of the nutrient excreted. Currently, phosphate must be purchased and added to feed, and it contributes to environmental pollution.<br>
<br>“China’s global leadership in approving biotech rice and maize will likely become a positive role model and influence acceptance and speed of biotech food and feed crop adoption throughout Asia and globally,” James said.<br>
<br>China is just one of 16 developing countries that grew biotech crops in 2009. Growth of biotech crops has been substantially higher in developing nations – 13 percent or 7 million hectares in 2009 compared to just 3 percent or 2 million hectares in industrialized countries. As a result, almost half (46 percent) of the global hectarage of biotech crops were planted in developing countries, where 13 million small farmers benefitted. <br>
<br>“This strong adoption puts to rest the idea that biotech crops can only benefit larger farmers and industrialized countries,” Huang said. “In fact, countries like China, with hundreds of millions of small farmers, have identified biotech crops as a key to self-sufficiency to make it less dependent on others for food, feed, and fiber.” <br>
<br>During 2009 there was a noticeable growth in appreciation for the essential role of agriculture by global society. In fact, the G8 recently approved US$20 billion over three years “to help farmers in the poorest nations improve food production and help the poor feed themselves.”<br>
<br>The late Norman Borlaug, founding patron of ISAAA and to whom this year’s report is dedicated also recognized this need. He stated that, “what we need is courage by the leaders of those countries where farmers still have no choice but to use older and less effective methods. The Green Revolution and now plant biotechnology are helping meet the growing demand for food production, while preserving our environment for future generations.”<br>
<br><strong><em>2009 Key Highlights</em></strong><br>In 2009, 14 million farmers planted 134 million hectares (330 million acres) of biotech crops in 25 countries, up from 13.3 million farmers and 125 million hectares (7 percent) in 2008. Notably, in 2009, 13 of the 14 million farmers, or 90 percent, were small and resource-poor farmers from developing countries. <br>
<br>Trait hectares or “virtual hectares” reached 180 million hectares, up 14 million hectares from 2008. Eight of the 11 countries planting crops with stacked traits were developing nations. <br><br>Brazil surpassed Argentina as the second largest grower of biotech crops globally. Impressive growth of 5.6 million hectares to 21.4 million hectares, up 35 percent from 2008, was the highest absolute growth for any country in 2009.<br>
<br>Burkina Faso’s biotech cotton area soared from 8,500 hectares to a substantial 115,000 hectares, or from 2 percent to 29 percent of the country’s total cotton area – the largest percentage growth on record at 1,350 percent. Progress continued in the rest of Africa with a significant 17 percent increase in South Africa to reach 2.1 million hectares and a 15 percent increase in Egypt to total 1,000 hectares of Bt maize. <br>
<br>Bt cotton in India has revolutionized cotton production in the country with 5.6 million farmers planting 8.4 million hectares in 2009, equivalent to a record 87 percent adoption rate. India gained US$1.8 billion from Bt cotton in 2008 alone and reduced insecticide use by half. <br>
<br>Costa Rica reported biotech crops for the first time in 2009, exclusively for the seed export market, while Japan began commercialization of a biotech blue rose. <br><br>Six European countries planted 94,750 hectares of biotech crops in 2009, down from seven countries and 107,719 hectares in 2008, as Germany discontinued its planting. Spain planted 80 percent of all the Bt maize in the EU in 2009 and maintained its record adoption rate of 22 percent from the previous year.<br>
<br>The top eight countries, each growing more than 1 million hectares, were: United States (64.0 million ha.), Brazil (21.4 million ha.), Argentina (21.3 million ha.), India (8.4 million ha.), Canada (8.2 million ha.), China (3.7 million ha.), Paraguay (2.2 million ha.), and South Africa (2.1 million ha.). The remaining countries included: Uruguay, Bolivia, Philippines, Australia, Burkina Faso, Spain, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Czech Republic, Portugal, Romania, Poland, Costa Rica, Egypt and Slovakia. <br>
<br><strong><em>Growth Drivers for Second Wave of Adoption</em></strong><br>Biotech rice and the drought tolerant trait have been identified as the two most important drivers globally for future biotech crop adoption. China’s biosafety clearance of insect-resistant rice is likely to spur faster development of biotech rice and other biotech crops in other developing countries. Meanwhile drought tolerant maize is expected to be deployed in the United States in 2012 and sub-Saharan Africa in 2017. <br>
<br>Other key highlights marking the beginning of the second wave of growth in 2009 include the approval of SmartStax, a novel biotech maize containing eight different genes for insect and herbicide resistance and planting in the United States and Canada of the first Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans – the first product of a new class of technology that allows more efficient, precise gene insertion to directly impact yields. <br>
<br>ISAAA predicts future adoption increases will also come from:<br>• significant expansion of biotech soybean, maize, and cotton in Brazil. <br>• commercialization of Bt cotton in 2010 by Pakistan, the fourth-largest cotton growing country. <br>
• expansion of Bt cotton in Burkina Faso with potential adoption of biotech cotton and/or maize in other African countries including Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, and Mali. <br>• adoption of golden rice by the Philippines in 2012 and Bangladesh and India before 2015. <br>
<br>Other smaller hectarage crops are also expected to be approved by 2015, including potatoes with pest and/or disease resistance, sugarcane with quality and agronomic traits, and disease resistant bananas. Wheat remains the last major staple crop without approved biotech traits. However, political will for the crop is growing globally. China may be the first country to approve biotech wheat as early as 5 years from now. Traits such as disease resistance are well advanced while sprouting tolerance and enhanced quality traits are being field-tested. China’s public investment in the crop is likely the largest worldwide.<br>
<br>ISAAA expects the number of biotech farmers globally to reach 20 million or more in 40 countries on 200 million hectares in just more than five short years in 2015. <br><br>For more information or the executive summary, log on to </font><a href="http://www.isaaa.org/" target="_blank"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#0000ff" size="2">www.isaaa.org</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">.<br>
<br>The report is entirely funded by two European philanthropic organizations: the Bussolera-Branca Foundation from Italy, which supports the open-sharing of knowledge on biotech crops to aid decision-making by global society; and a philanthropic unit within Ibercaja, one of the largest Spanish banks headquartered in the maize growing region of Spain.<br>
<br>The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) is a not-for-profit organization with an international network of centers designed to contribute to the alleviation of hunger and poverty by sharing knowledge and crop biotechnology applications. Clive James, chairman and founder of ISAAA, has lived and/or worked for the past 25 years in the developing countries of Asia, Latin America, and Africa, devoting his efforts to agricultural research and development issues with a focus on crop biotechnology and global food security.<br>
<br><strong>------------------------------------------------------------</strong><br></font><font size="2"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><strong>PHILIPPINES<br>2-PHILIPPINES REMAINS AT THE FOREFRONT OF BIOTECH ADOPTION IN ASIA <br>
</strong>by Jenny A. Panopio<br>05-March-2010 SEARCA BIC News Release <br><br>The Philippines remains to be in the forefront of GM/biotech corn adoption in the Asian region being the only country in Asia to grow GM/biotech food. In 2009, the area planted to genetically modified corn is projected to increase to about 490,000, from 11,000 hectares of Bt corn when it was first planted in 2003. This is based on the projection data shared by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) during the recent Seminar of its Chair and Founder, Dr. Clive James, on the Global Overview of Biotech/GM Crop: 2009 - Current Status, Impact and Future Prospect. The event participated by academicians, scientists, regulators, policy makers, technology developers and farmers was co-organized by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), the SEAMEO Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEAMEO SEARCA), and ISAAA.<br>
<br>According to the recently published ISAAA Brief 41, the Philippines has already gained farm level economic benefit of planting biotech corn estimated at US$88 million from 2003 to 2008 adoption. ISAAA also estimated that the number of small resource-poor farmers, growing an average of 2 hectares of biotech corn, was estimated at 250,000 in 2009. <br>
<br>Joseph Benemerito, a small-scale corn farmer from Alfonso Lista, Ifugao, started planting biotech corn in 2006. His corn harvest increased from 3 to 3.5 metric tons per hectare from conventional corn to 7 to 8 metric tons per hectare from biotech corn. Mr. Benemerito is a recipient of National Best Quality Corn Farmer in 2008 and shared his own experience in planting insect resistant, herbicide tolerant and stacked trait corn during the seminar. <br>
<br>“Originally, about 12,000 hectares of land is propagated with corn in Alfonso Lista. But due to the benefits derived from adopting biotech corn- increased yield, lower production cost and increased net income, area planted to corn now increased to about 20,000 hectares” shared by Mr. Benemerito. <br>
<br>With the first hand benefits derived from planting biotech corn, Mr. Benemerito remains hopeful that biotechnological innovation will continue to help small scale farmers and looks forward to planting more biotech crops with important traits. “I do hope that more scientific researchers be done to raise the status of our agricultural sector, more discoveries and commercialization of GM/biotech crops should be explored to make farming profitable and sustainable among farmers throughout the world. We are now happy with what we have but getting worried with the El Nino. I am glad that there are now researches on drought tolerance. We are also hoping to have some Bt vegetables in the future, just like Bt eggplant and ampalaya (bitter gourd).”<br>
<br>Biotech/GM crops are considered to be one of the fastest crop technology adopted in the Philippines. Upon the initial approval for the commercial propagation of Bt corn MON 810 in 2002, adoption to GM/biotech corn tremendously increased through time, as new traits were approved and introduced in the market particularly the herbicide tolerant-corn (Round-up Ready RR corn) and stacked trait corn (Bt and RR) which were both propagated in 2005. The Philippines grew about 2.68M hectares of corn in 2009, 1.28M hectares is yellow corn with an average yield of 3.18 tons/ha. In 2009, about 25.5% of all yellow corn is biotech.<br>
<br>To date, the Philippines has 49 approvals for the direct use /importation of biotech crops for food, feed and processing for crops such as corn, alfalfa, sugarbeet, soybean, potato and squash. Five events have been approved for commercial propagation. <br>
<br>For additional updates on agricultural biotechnology in the Philippines, visit </font></font><a href="http://www.bic.searca.org/" target="_blank"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#0000ff" size="2">www.bic.searca.org</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"> or email </font><a href="mailto:bic@agri.searca.org" target="_blank"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#0000ff" size="2">bic@agri.searca.org</font></a><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">.<br>
<br><strong>------------------------------------------------------------</strong><br></font><font size="2"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><strong>3-NATIONAL SCIENTIST CITES NEED FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY<br></strong>by Mitch Arceo<br>
03-March-2010 </font></font><a href="http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/245884/national-scientist-cites-need-biotechnology" target="_blank"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#0000ff" size="2">Manila Bulletin</font></a><br>
<br><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Changes in the climate and the environment are affecting agriculture, according to national scientist Gelia Castilo.<br><br>Castillo said the effects of El Niño are already evident. One of the effects of El Niño is lower food productivity which results in poverty and hunger.<br>
<br>The drought has spread not only in the Philippines but in other countries as well. Environmental changes are creating a big impact on agriculture. Castillo said crop biotechnology can help agriculture cope with environmental changes, citing the work of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).<br>
<br>Dr. Clive James, founder and chairman of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), says crop biotechnology that can increase yield, and at the same time conserve nature.<br><br>
Crop biotechnology was the strong advocacy of Dr. Norman Borlaug, who was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1970. This technology not only improves agricultural productivity but it provides healthy and affordable for the people.<br>
<br>In 1996, only six countries adopted crop biotechnology. Now, 25 countries all in all are embracing biotechnology.<br><br>“As a result of consistent and substantial crop productivity, and economic, environmental and welfare benefits, a record of 14 million small and large farmers in 25 countries planted 134 million hectares in 2009, an increase of 7 percent or 9 million hectares over 2008. The 80-fold increase in biotech crop hectares between 1996 and 2009 is unprecedented and makes biotech crops the fastest adopted crop technology in the recent history of agriculture,” said James.<br>
<br>James said that plant biotechnology can contribute to a sustainable development in several ways.<br><br>Plant biotechnology can increase supply with less production cost. Biotech (Bt) crops and genetically modified crops are found to be more yielding compared to ordinary crops. Therefore, this technology can contribute not only to food security but also poverty and hunger alleviation.<br>
<br>Most of the world’s poor consist of farmers in the industrial and developing countries. Data from the ISAAA shows that resource-poor farmers in the 25 countries which approved the adoption of biotechnology are the major beneficiaries of this agricultural development.<br>
<br>Local farmer Joseph Benemerito, corn coordinator of the Alfonso Lista Corn Cluster Federation in Ifugao, can attest to that. Benemerito started from growing a single hectare of Bt crops. But after a few years, his single hectare of Bt crops has now expanded to several hectares, producing more harvest and net income.<br>
<br>Crop biotechnology not only promotes increased productivity but it also conserves the world’s biodiversity, reduce agriculture’s environmental footprint, and mitigate climate change.<br><br><strong>------------------------------------------------------------</strong><br>
<strong>4-AREAS PLANTED TO ‘Bt’ CORN 14% WIDER</strong><br>by Jennifer A. Ng / Reporter <br>02-March-2010 </font><a href="http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=23%3Atopnews&id=22467%3Aareas-planted-to-bt-corn-14-wider&Itemid=58" target="_blank"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#0000ff" size="2">Business Mirror</font></a><br>
<br><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">FARMS in the Philippines planted to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) or genetically manipulated corn expanded by around 14 percent to 400,000 hectares in 2009, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA).<br>
<br>ISAAA noted that the Philippines and other developing countries increased their share of global biotech crop to almost 50 percent last year, and the Philippines is among the top five countries that exhibited an increase in biotechcrop area of 10 percent or more.<br>
<br>Ecology and food-safety groups have repeatedly said the safety of genetically modified food crops has not been established due to the lack of information.<br><br>They traced lack of data to a number of reasons: the difficulty of evaluation owing to GMO crop foods being more complex; scarcity of publications on GMO food toxicity; and the industry’s preference for using compositional comparisons between GMO and non-GMO crops.<br>
<br>One of the most prominent is Greenpeace, which said that genetic engineering results in genes that do not occur naturally and their use is “genetic pollution” and is a major threat because GMOs cannot be recalled once released into the environment.<br>
<br>“As in the past, the 2009 percentage growth in biotech crop area continued to be significantly stronger in the developing countries (13 percent or 7 million hectares) than industrial countries (3 percent or 2 million hectares),” reported the ISAAA in its “Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2009” paper.<br>
<br>Its argument for the use of GMO crops is that the commercialization of Bt rice and Golden rice alone could feed at least a billion people in Asia.<br><br>The nonprofit international organization thus remains optimistic of the increasing acceptability of biotech crops especially after the Group of 20 major economies acknowledged the importance of biotech in reducing poverty and hunger, according to Dr. Clive James, ISAAA founder and chairman.<br>
<br>The organization expressed concern, however, over the possible impact of the El Niño weather phenomenon on the expansion of hectarage planted to GM corn.<br><br>“We haven’t come up with a revised target yet for 2010. It’s too early to tell. We are still monitoring the effects of El Niño not only to Bt corn but also to other crops, as well,” said Dr. Randy A. Hautea, global coordinator and Southeast Asia Center director of ISAAA, at a media briefing in Makati on Monday.<br>
<br>ISAAA had projected that farmlands planted to Bt corn will expand to 480,000 hectares in 2009, from 350,000 hectares in 2008.<br><br>Aside from GM corn, Hautea said the Philippines is also making a multilocation trial of Bt eggplant and a greenhouse trial of Bt cotton.<br>
<br>ISAAA estimated that the global biotech seed market alone was valued at $10.5 billion in 2009 while biotech maize (corn), soybean grain, and cotton was estimated at $130 billion in 2008.<br><br>Greenpeace slammed commercial interests, however, for denying the public the right to know about GE ingredients in the food chain, “and therefore losing the right to avoid them despite the presence of labelling laws in certain countries.”<br>
<br>“Biological diversity must be protected and respected as the global heritage of humankind, and one of our world’s fundamental keys to survival. Governments are attempting to address the threat of GE with international regulations such as the Biosafety Protocol,” it said.<br>
<br>“When they are not significantly different, the two are regarded as ‘substantially equivalent,’ and therefore the GM food crop is regarded as safe as its conventional counterpart. This ensures that GM crops can be patented without animal testing,” according to the groups.<br>
<br>However, substantial equivalence “is an unscientific concept that has never been properly defined” and there are no legally binding rules on how to establish it.<br><br>Greenpeace also said GMO foods may cause bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics and they can also produce allergies.<br>
<br><strong>------------------------------------------------------------</strong><br><strong>5-HIGH-YIELD CORN EXPANSION TO SLOW DOWN BECAUSE OF EL NIÑO</strong> <br>by Katrina Mennen A. Valdez (Reporter)<br>02-March-2010 </font><a href="http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/business-columns/12474-high-yield-corn-expansion-to-slow-down-because-of-el-nino" target="_blank"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#0000ff" size="2">Manila Times</font></a><br>
<br><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">HIGH-YIELD grain varieties are unlikely to help the Philippines weather this year’s El Niño, according to a farm biotechnology expert.<br>On the sidelines of a conference on Monday, Randy Hautea, director for Southeast Asia of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), said the expansion of Bt-corn in the Philippines would slow down because of the lingering dry spell.<br>
<br>Hautea said the growth in the area planted to Bt maize would be volatile since this crop, just like ordinary corn, will not be spared from El Niño.<br><br>“We cannot give [a] projection for this year yet since the dry spell would have a significant impact in terms of Bt maize growth in the Philippines,” he said.<br>
<br>Bt-corn is a variant of maize that is genetically altered to release a toxin against insects.<br><br>At present, three million hectares of land are planted to corn nationwide, he said. About half of this is devoted to white corn for human consumption, while the other half is for yellow corn or those used for animal feeds. There are two types of corn for animal feeds: the open pollinated and the hybrid corn.<br>
<br>Bt maize accounts for about half of the total hybrid corn.<br><br>In 2008, the area planted to Bt maize stood at 350,000 hectares. ISAAA had projected that the area would increase to 480,000 hectares in 2009. But because of the unfavorable weather, the actual area would only be around 400,000, Hautea said.<br>
<br>The Philippines is the only country in Asia that has approved the entry of genetically modified corn. Other countries fear that the Bt corn would adversely affect the health of livestock, which could be possibly passed on to humans once consumed.<br>
<br><strong>------------------------------------------------------------</strong><br><strong>6-AREA PLANTED WITH Bt CORN SEEN TO HAVE FALLEN SHORT</strong><br>02-March-2010 </font><a href="http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=6978" target="_blank"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#0000ff" size="2">Business World</font></a><br>
<br><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">AREA planted with genetically modified corn (Bt corn) is expected to have fallen short of the 480,000 hectares projected for last year in the wake of damage from storms that hit in the fourth quarter. <br>
<br>Randy A. Hautea, director for South East Asia of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), told reporters yesterday that his organization -- which advices the International Rice Research Institute and the Philippine Rice Research Institute on genetically modified crops -- has discovered that about 400,000 hectares were planted with Bt corn.<br>
<br>"We are still finalizing the data, but if [weather] conditions had only been normal, we would have achieved the projected 480,000 has for Bt corn. Aside from the typhoons, the El Niño dry spell [which started in December] has also affected the whole corn industry," Mr. Hautea said.<br>
<br>Mr. Hautea said most of the areas planted are in Region 2, or the Cagayan Valley, a major corn producer that is also one of the regions now worst affected by the dry spell.<br><br>He declined to give projections for this year, saying "we do not know the full effect of El Niño." <br>
<br><strong>------------------------------------------------------------</strong><br><strong>7-RP AMONG COUNTRIES WITH GROWING BIOTECH CROP SHARE</strong><br>by Dennis Estopace (Reporter)<br>26-February-2010 </font><a href="http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=33:economy&id=22287:rp-among-countries-with-growing-biotech-crop-share&Itemid=60" target="_blank"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#0000ff" size="2">Business Mirror</font></a><br>
<br><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">MOST people do not know it and may believe the environmentalist groups’ drive against genetically modified (GM) corn being planted in Mindanao has succeeded, but according to a nonprofit group, biotech corn (maize) planted in the country has increased to 500,000 hectares, making the Philippines one of the developing nations contributing in a major way to GM crops.<br>
<br>The latest report of nonprofit International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) noted that the Philippines had a 25-percent growth in the size of GM crop area last year.<br><br>The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) had estimated food production must increase by 60 percent over the next 25 years to keep up with world population needs.<br>
<br>Major food crops that had been the focus of genetic manipulation are corn and soya, with wheat and rice lagging due to complications.?<br><br>”The country was one of seven developing countries that exhibited proportional growth in biotech crop area of 10 percent or more,” according to the ISAAA report.<br>
<br>Burkina Faso led these countries with a 1,353-percent increase in the hectarage of biotech crop areas, followed by Brazil, 35 percent, and Bolivia, 33 percent. The Philippines is fourth in percentage growth.<br><br>The United States topped the 25 countries with 64 million hectares growing biotech crops—from soybean to sugar beet, according to the “Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2009” ISAAA report.<br>
<br>“As in the past, the 2009 percentage growth in biotech crop area continued to be significantly stronger in the developing countries [13 percent and 7 million hectares] than industrial countries [3 percent and 2 million hectares],” the report said.<br>
<br>This “strong trend for higher growth in developing countries versus industrial countries is highly likely to continue in the near, mid and long term, as more countries from the South adopt biotech crops as crops like rice, 90 percent of which is grown in developing countries, are deployed as new biotech crops.”<br>
<br>The Philippines was also recognized by the ISAAA report for what it calls the country’s stacked product that is said to have “pest resistance and herbicide tolerance in maize.” Crops with “stacked gene traits,” means having more than one engineered trait in a single variety.<br>
<br>In 2008 the ISAAA estimates that areas growing stacked traits of biotech herbicide tolerant (bt/h) maize is 200,000 hectares. A year before that, the estimate was only some 63,000 hectares growing that crop in the country.<br>
<br>The Philippines also contributed to last year’s increase of biotech crop farmers in the world to 14 million, with an estimated 250,000 farmers growing or working on areas growing biotech corn.<br><br>ISAAA forecast the Philippines would adopt GM golden rice by 2012, which would help increase future adoption of biotech crops. <br>
<br><strong>------------------------------------------------------------</strong><br></font><font size="2"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><strong>CHINA<br>8-CHINA ‘Bt’ RICE OK TO BOOST SUPPLY<br></strong>by Lyn Resurreccion / Section Editor <br>
02-March-2010 </font></font><a href="http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22468:china-bt-rice-ok-to-boost-supply&catid=23:topnews&Itemid=58" target="_blank"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#0000ff" size="2">Business Mirror</font></a><br>
<br><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Manila, Philippines - CHINA scored the most important development in biotechnology in 2009 when it approved the biosafety and food-safety viability of a genetically modified (GM) rice variety—Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) rice—that would lead to increased rice yield of 2 percent to 6 percent, and help attain the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015, an international biotechnology expert said on Monday.<br>
<br>If that variety is adapted in the Philippines, it could help the country solve its rice shortage, he added.<br><br>China’s Bt rice—with the Bt gene protein incorporated into the seed so the plant could directly ward off insects—will be available commercially in two to three years.<br>
<br>“Without doubt, if you look at the developments in 2009, it [China’s approval of Bt rice] is by far the most important one,” Dr. Clive James, founder and chairman of International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA), told the BusinessMirror in an interview over the weekend.<br>
<br>“Rice is the most important food crop in the world, and it is the most important food crop of the poor of the world. So by increasing the production of biotech rice we are also addressing poverty alleviation,” James said.<br>
<br>“It is a big breakthrough. It is like breaking a glass ceiling in terms of rice. Many people will look to China as a role model,” he said.<br><br>James pointed out that biotechnology, through the development of Bt rice—which is planted in 150 million hectares worldwide, 90 percent in Asia, with 30 million hectares in China—would help address poverty alleviation and contribute to halving poverty by 50 percent in 2015.<br>
<br>“As you know, we as a global society, we made a promise [through the MDGs] to decrease hunger by 50 percent. We believe that this technology can play a very important contribution to that effect,” he added.<br><br>At the same time, China approved the biosafety requirements of phytase maize in 2009. It is also expected for commercialization in two to three years.<br>
<br>Corn is a very important feed crop. With phytase maize, it makes pigs digest more phosphorous—that enhances their growth—while reducing pollution from reduced phosphate levels in animal waste.<br><br>Phytase maize, the technology for which originated in China, would make meat cheaper, James said.<br>
<br>“As you create wealth in China, they are consuming much more meat. So phytase maize is a very important,” he said.<br><br>He said China has 50 percent of the pigs in the world. From about 5 million in 1968 it now has about 508 million pigs.<br>
<br>“Feeding this improved maize to these pigs would improve the meat production, bring down the cost of meat and that is exactly what you need as China consumes more meat,” James said.<br><br>Likewise, China has 13 billion heads of poultry animals, which could be fed from the new GM corn variety that can be planted in its 13 million hectares of maize farms.<br>
<br>The Philippines also has a substantial number of hog and poultry farms that could benefit from the technology if it is adapted in the country.<br><br>James presented on Monday to the biotech community and the media in the Philippines a report titled “Global status of Commercialized Biotech/GM crops 2009.”<br>
<br>The report said that in 2009, 14 million small and large farmers in 25 countries planted 134 million hectares of biotech crops, or an increase of 7 percent or 9 million hectares over 2008.<br><br>James said the Philippines, which plans to produce 98 percent of rice, could achieve self-sufficiency in rice from Bt rice.<br>
<br>The Philippines has imported 2.4 million metric tons (MMT) of rice, which are expected to be delivered before the lean month of July. The country harvested 16.26 MMT of rice from a total of 4.53 million hectares planted to palay in 2009.<br>
<br>In 2008, a rice-supply crisis in the Philippines forced the government to import at high prices, causing rice prices worldwide to skyrocket.<br><br>“China is producing biotech rice because it wants to increase self sufficiency. It wants to decrease dependence on others on food feed and fiber. It believes that that’s the start issue. I believe that’s a very important concept,” he said.<br>
<br>He noted that 110 million households in China grow rice. Assuming an average family size of four, 440 million people will benefit directly from the new rice technology.<br><br>“Of course when you produce it, all 1.3 billion people in China who are rice consumers will benefit. This is a very, very big initiative. It will impact not only in China but also in other countries in Asia, where 90 percent of rice is consumed and grown. So this is a major development.”<br>
<br>To dispel critics’ fear of biotech crops for food, James explained that Bt rice is not the first food crop that would be available for commercialization.<br><br>He said in US and Canada, 70 percent of the food bought by 300 million population of the two countries are GM.<br>
<br>“They have been eating GM for 14 years. The good news, of course, is that there was not even a suggestion of a problem in terms of food,” he pointed out. The ISAAA report said that products from biotech crops in the US include soybean, maize, cotton (oil), canola, papaya and squash.<br>
<br>He added that about 70 percent of white maize grown in South Africa is used as food; papaya is consumed as food in China and in the US.<br><br><strong>------------------------------------------------------------</strong><br>
<strong>9-CHINA ON WAY TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN RICE, CORN</strong><br>by Marvyn N. Benaning<br>04-March-2010 </font><a href="http://www.mb.com.ph/node/245984/china-way-" target="_blank"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" color="#0000ff" size="2">Manila Bulletin</font></a><br>
<br><font size="2"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><strong><em>Expert predicts 8 percent hike in output with use of biotech crops</em></strong><br><br>Manila, Philippines - China is on the road to sufficiency in rice and corn and it bodes well for the world market long bothered by lower output and the reduction of the grain supply for export to rice-deficit countries.<br>
<br>Dr. Clive James, founder and chairman of the non-stock, non-profit International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) said Beijing made a giant step in November 2009 when it issued biosafety certificates for biotech insect-resistant rice and phytase corn.<br>
<br>Rice is consumed by half of humanity while corn is the single biggest feed crop on the planet. Corn is consumed by livestock, poultry and other animals.<br><br>With the issuance of such certificates, James said China would be most likely cultivate these biotech rice and corn varieties after the standard two and three years of standard registration field trials before commercialization.<br>
<br>The Philippines ranks 11th among countries that grow biotech crops, principally corn.<br><br>“With last year’s food crisis, price spikes, and hunger and malnutrition afflicting more than one billion people for the first time ever, there has been a global shift from efforts for just food security to food self-sufficiency,” James added.<br>
<br>“With a current population of 1.3 billion, biotech crops are a critical component for China and other countries to gain self-sufficiency,” he explained. <br><br>Currently the world’s biggest rice producing country, China had long been bothered by the dreaded rice borer, which the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) variety would combat. Bt rice can raise yields by eight percent, reduce pesticide use by 80 percent or 17 kilos per hectare and generate $4 billion in benefits annually.<br>
<br>“This would have a direct and extensive increase on the prosperity of about 440 million Chinese who rely on rice production,” said Dr. Dafang Huang, former director at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.<br>
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