Biotech holds key to food sufficiency - DA official

Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo R. Serrano, who also chairs the Department of Agriculture-Biotech Program steering committee, believes that modern farm technologies, particularly biotechnology, are the key to solving the country’s food security problem.

According to Serrano, the DA is utilizing biotechnology safely and responsibly to increase the supply and stability as well as improve the nutritional quality of food in the market.

The DA official said new biotechnologically enhanced rice varieties can provide the country with adequate supply of the grain staple.

He said improved wagwag rice has been made tungro-resistant, saline-tolerant and capable of producing yields higher than five tons per hectare.

Serrano also pointed out that Tubigan 7 (NSIC Rc142) and Tubigan 11 (NSIC Rc154), two strains developed by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), are resistant to bacterial leaf blight which destroys crops during the wet season.

Tubigan 7 yields 7.4 tons per hectare, nearly double the current national yield. Research and development on drought-tolerant, saline-tolerant, and flood-tolerant rice varieties is being done as a strategic response to erratic climatic conditions.

Government scientists are also developing Golden Rice to help curb vitamin A deficiency among children and pregnant women, arming the rice with nutrients that battle blindness. The genes of Golden Rice are being incorporated into local varieties that are resistant to tungro and bacterial blight.

“In attaining food sufficiency, we do have high hopes in biotechnology to make our food production system efficient,” Serrano said.