Coming soon: Bt eggplant

It’s but a matter of time before genetically modified (GM) or Bt eggplant will become a part of the country’s vegetable landscape.

Developed in India, the first GM eggplant variety was introduced in the Philippines two years ago.

Tested under "contained" conditions in the greenhouses of the University of the Philippines Los Baños-Institute of Plant Breeding (UPLB-IPB), the Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) crop is programmed to "graduate" to a "confined" (still limited but outside the greenhouse) environment in early 2007.

By 2008, it shall then be subjected to "multilocation" trials in various parts of the country in compliance with rules and regulations set by government instrumentalities, particularly by the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines (NCBF).

The end product – Bt eggplant – is expected to be the answer to the fruit and shoot borer (FSB), the most destructive pest attacking eggplant in Asia. In the Philippines, for instance, damage by FSB results in yield losses from 54 percent to 70 percent, and with no available commercial eggplant varieties resistant to the pest.

Bt or transgenic eggplant is one of the crops being scientifically produced through biotechnology or genetic engineering process under the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSP II) funded by the United States Agency for International Development-Economic Modernization through efficient Reforms and Governance (USAID-EMERGE).

The ABSP II, led by Cornell University in New York (USA), aims to provide substantial benefits from agricultural biotechnology to countries in Asia (the Philippines, Indonesia, India, and Bangladesh) and East and West Africa.

The UPLB-IPB is ABSP II’s Southeast Asian Regional Coordination Center, which oversees project activities in the Philippines and Indonesia.

Under the project, Filipino scientists are focusing on FSB-resistant eggplant, papaya ring spot virus-resistant papaya, and multiple virus-resistant tomato.

IPB scientists composed of Drs. Desiree Hautea, Josefina Navarro, Lourdes Taylo, Lolita Dolores, and Hayde Galvez reported on the progress of these projects to farmer-leaders, scientists, and communicators from eight countries who attended the international workshop on "Farmer Biotech Outreach: Strengthening the Competitiveness of Small Farmers" held last Dec. 4-7 at the Intercontinental Manila Hotel in Makati City.

The workshop was organized by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application (ISAAA), Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture-Biotechnology Information Center (SEARCA-BIC), and Asian Farmers Regional Network (ASFERNET) and supported by the United States government through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Dr. Hautea said eggplant is now the number one vegetable crop in the Philippines, with it planted in 20,000 hectares and yielding annually 179,000 metric tons (2002 figures).

The top producing regions are the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Central Visayas, and Western Visayas.

"Average yields, however, are low due to chronically high infestations of fruit and shoot borer, the most serious pest of eggplant," ABSP II noted.

With the eventual commercialization of Bt eggplant, the horizon of the country’s top vegetable crop is expected to further brighten. – Rudy A. Fernandez