Angara backs Bt corn for agri sector

Sen. Edgardo Angara said recently farmers’ advocate groups and local consumers have no reason to fear the propagation of the popular, high-yielding biotechnology-processed corn variety in the country because the overwhelming scientific opinion in the world is that the biotechnology-processed crop is safe.

Angara, who headed the agriculture department during the Estrada administration, said, "there is no evidence in the world that that Bt corn has caused poisoning or death or degradation of the environment."

He added that agriculture in developing countries is now shifting from being an input-based sector to a technology-based industry." This is inevitable since "arable lands are not expanding while the number of mouths to feed are multiplying in rapid geometric progression," he said.

In the Philippines, agricultural land is actually diminishing due to conversion to residential or industrial use, Angara noted.

Biotechnology enables the development of seeds that are naturally highly resistant to specific diseases and pests like the Asian corn borer, the most prevalent pest in local corn farms. The natural resistance results in fewer requirements for chemicals such as insecticides.

Among these varieties are biotech cotton, corn, canola and soya which are extensively grown in the US, Latin America, Canada and South Africa. India has also adopted biotech cotton.

Angara said most countries have already adopted biotechnology for agriculture in a bid to significantly increase the harvest of staple crops with minimum additional farm inputs such as expensive insecticides.

He echoed the call "to keep the food issue out of politics," as this "will only drag biotechnology into the political arena" which could be detrimental to the country’s bid to achieve food security.