Firm warns of PH food shortage, offers GMO

An American agricultural firm warned Congress that the Philippines could face a food crisis if it does not formulate a food security program anchored on biotechnology, such as genetically-modified (GM) crops that yield more and are more resistant to drought and pests.

At a hearing of the House special committee on food security, Monsanto Asia senior expert for scientific affairs Harvey Glink said the country’s agriculture output has remained at 2000 levels which was not enough to feed the 100 million Filipinos.

“The population is growing and the demand for food is growing very quickly. In fact it is growing faster than the production of food crops. Farmers are requesting scientists to develop high-yielding crop hybrids that are also resistant to weeds, insect pests and stress such as drought, in order to conserve on resources,” Glick said.

He cited a 2014 study which showed that biotechnology raised crop yield by 22 percent, slashed pesticide use by 37 percent and generated 68 percent more profits to farmers through higher output and lower costs.

The forum was attended by committee chair and AAMBIS-OWA Rep. Sharon Garin, Binhi Partylist Rep. Agapito Guanlao and OFW Partylist Rep. Juan Revilla who were generally skeptical on biotechnology due to fears on GM crops’ health and environmental impact.

“We need this knowledge to decide on whether to pursue it as one of our advocacies in the 16th Congress. I gladly accepted this opportunity to hold this forum because it could enlighten us, not only the legislators, but also of other stakeholders of the potential of biotechnology and the issues it currently faces,” said Garin.

Glick noted that while the Philippines was a leader among Asean countries in terms of giving its farmers a choice of whether to use cutting-edge technology or conventional methods on their corn farms, the government should do more by encouraging farmers to use biotechnology to boost production.