DA taps private sector for biotech commercialization

The Department of Agriculture is tapping the private sector as partners in making biotechnology products commercially available.

“We believe that the private sector is a key player in the commercialization of biotechnology products. That is why we are targeting the private sector to be our prime partners in this arena,” said Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo R. Serrano, who also chairs the DA-biotech program steering committee.

Serrano said the government has invested immensely in generating biotechnologies and that “now is the time for the private sector to come in.”

Breakthrough technologies are being promoted to lure private sector participation, he added.

Among the technologies ready for commercialization, Serrano said, are biofertilizers, synthetic coconut and rice varieties.

Biofertilizers play a key role in reducing dependence on expensive and imported chemical-based farm inputs.

According to Serrano, synthetic coconut varieties are promising planting materials to replace old and unproductive trees, while biotech rice varieties provide cost-efficient rice.

He said the DA can assist the commercialization process of biotechnology by ensuring the availability of enough seeds for dissemination.

For instance, a seed farm could be established for coconut to produce parentals of synthetic varieties as well as provide technical assistance to industry players in the culture, management, and production of planting materials.

“We are open to the development of open pollinated varieties (OPV) of the Bt eggplant through the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and our regional field units so that the technology could reach our small farmers,” Serrano said, adding that eggplant is a vegetable that enjoys a high demand the entire year.

Papaya is also being enhanced through the development of a papaya ring spot virus (PRSV)-resistant variety with delayed ripening trait, which increases its shelf life.