Biotech seen as solution to hunger problem

The country’s population has passed the 75-million mark and is still growing. On the other hand, food production seems to be slowing down as forests and lands are continually being degraded such that their capacity to produce has been declining. Water resources are also being threatened.

These challenges are not unique to the Philippines. Other countries especially the tropical underdeveloped ones are in the same predicament.

Fortunately, a major breakthrough in addressing these challenges has been developed. This is the application or utilization of biotechnology. The term comes from the word "bio" which refers to life processes, and "technology" which refers to tools and techniques used in achieving a specific purposes. The term is also known as "genetic engineering."

Biotechnology is a technique to make biological yields more efficient. Problems affecting reforestation and agroforestation such as environmental pollution show growth and survival of plants and tree species, and incidence of pests and diseases may directly or indirectly be solved through application of biotechnology.

Some people say that biotechnology can address the hunger problem. Others say it maybe so, but its use particularly on crops, is very costly for developing countries. Hence, they prefer the traditional breeding.

The Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (Biotech) at the University of the Philippines has developed technologies using materials which can be sourced locally. They are now available at Biotech and aim to address the following concerns in agriculture and forestry:

1. Mycogroe – a soil-based inoculant that promotes growth and survival of eucalyptus, pine, Casuarina and some species of the family Dipterocarppaceae.

2. Mykovam – a soil-based inoculant in powder form that contains spores and vegetative bodies of selected species of mycorrhizal fungi that has a wider application for agricultural crops, fruit trees and forest trees. This fungal inoculants have been shown to facilitate mobilization of not only the phosphorus element but also other nutrients that may be fixed in the soil lattice. The inoculants are also found to offer biocontrol for root pathogens.

3. Bio-N – a microbial based inoculant that contains nitrogen-fixing bacteria that can enhance the yield and root development of rice, corn, sugar cane and certain vegetable species. The inoculants were reported to complement some 30-75 percent of the nitrogen requirement by host crops. Inoculated plans were shown to offer better resistance to pests than the clinically fertilized counterpart.

4. NitroPlus – a seed inoculant that contains effective and specific Rhisobium strains for certain legumes such as soybean, mungbean, peanut, pole sitao and cowpea. These inoculans have been shown to substitute for the nitrogen requirement of specific crops from 15-100 percent.

5. Bio-organic fertilizer – processed composted materials derived from plant and animal wastes enriched with nitrogen-fixing bacteria Azotobacter sp. In the Philippines, there are already some 24 organic fertilizer manufacturers but only a few have enriched the formulation with nitrogen-fixing organisms. Bio-blend and Biocore are two of the brands that are already licensed by the Fertilizer Pesticide Authority.

6. Cocogro – a mixture of plant hormones and other plant regulators derived from waste coconut water. The particular preparation can be used together with the preparation of media for tissue culture or plain treatment of plants for better growth.

7. ELISA-based (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) was developed at Biotech for detection of:

a) plant viruses in papaya, banana, abaca, citrus, potato, orchids, etc. and

b) Food – red tide toxins (saxitoxin) aflatoxin B1, Aflatoxin M, Zearalenone, Ochratoxin A.

8. Tissue culture – the asexual means of plant propagation has been proven successful for bamboo, citrus, ornamental plants, and certain industrial timber species. The techniques are available at either the Institute of Plant Breeding, BIOTECH or at the College of Forestry, UP Los Baños.

9. Development of novel crop varieties through recombinant DNA technology.

10. The above technologies are now being utilized directly or indirectly by a few agencies in crop production and forest nursery establishment and management. In order to promote the adoption of the technology, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through the Human Resource Management Service of the DNR, is currently conducting a 28-day training on Forest Biotechnology.