Bt-corn yields record harvest for Northern Luzon farmers

The use of the revolutionary pest resistant biotechnology processed-corn, more popularly known as Bt-corn, continued to swell following the record harvest it yielded for the agricultural community in Northern Luzon last cropping season.

Brgy. Captain Pacifico Agcaoili of Bangal, Alfonso Lista, Ifugao said that his use of Yieldgard, the Bt-corn produced by Monsanto, enabled him to harvest high-quality grains at 6.4 tons per hectare, a number that is 2 tons per hectare higher that the usual yield he gets.

Yieldgard is a pest-resistant biotechnology-processed corn developed by Monsanto. It produces proteins that kill the Asiatic corn borer, a major insect pest of corn. Studies have earlier shown that Yieldgard yields as much as forty percent more than the usual harvest a farmer gets in one crop season. Being pest-resistant, it does not need pesticides during the crop season.

Agcaoili also said that Yieldgard saved him time and energy because of its built-in protection against corn borer. "The use of Yieldgard afforded me the best quality of corn grains without the application of harmful and expensive pesticides", he added.

Other farmers in the provinces of Ifugao and Isabela also expressed their overwhelming support in the use of the biotechnology-processed corn in their farms.

Orlando Alivia, former mayor of Aurora, Isabela and landowner in Alfonso Lista, Ifugao said Yiedgard generated him an increase in harvest of more than 2 tons per hectare in his 50-hectare farm.

The Good Samaritan Multipurpose Cooperative Inc. (GSMPCI) boasting of 300 members in Isabela also expressed support concerning the use of the biotechnology-processed corn.

Magdalena Dela Cruz, an officer of the cooperative said that the use of Yieldgard in their farms yielded a harvest of two tons per hectare higher than the recorded yields they had with ordinary hybrid. She said that until Yieldgard, they continuously have to endure every planting season the damaging effects of corn borer.

Farmer Jimmy Recto, who owns about 40 hectares of land in Cauayan City, also said that "2 bags of Yieldgard last cropping season" yielded him an average of 120 cavans per hectare, which registers an increase of more than 20 cavans per hectare than his usual yield.

Earlier, the use of biotechnology in agriculture received support from the Philippine Maize Federation, the country’s biggest organization of corn farmers.

It has also received support from Church leaders, non-governmental associations, government officials and the scientific community.

Other Asian countries have taken steps ahead of the Philippines in the application of biotechnology to their respective agricultural sectors.