BAR TODAY || Official Quarterly Publication of the Bureau of Agricultural Research

Small farmers' gain from GE crops higher than those of commercial farmers
by Saturnina C. Halos

October-December 2000
Volume 2 No. 4

Small-scale cotton farmers in South Africa planting Bt cotton obtained higher increases in yields than their commercial counterparts. Bt cotton, a cotton variety developed through genetic engineering (GE) and protected from insect attacks, reported increased yields ranging from 18-28.8% in the 1997-98 Bt cotton trials with small farmers reporting the higher increases of 28.8% compared with commercial growers of 18% and 23%. This should come as a surprise to many detractors of the GE technology who have been predicting all along that small farmers will not benefit from the technology. This report reinforces findings that farmers are the biggest beneficiaries of the GE technology.

A series of economic analysis made by American scientists on the question of who gains the most from the GE technology showed that the biggest gainers are the farmers. The analyses also showed that economic benefits of the GE technology accrue to all stakeholders: the farmers, the patent holders (some aspects of the GE technology are covered by patents), the seed producers, the consumers, and the rest of the world (where the crops are exported). Among the many reasons why farmers plant GE crops include higher profits, decreased pesticide use, cleaner grains, increased yields, and a simpler and more flexible weed control program. The major GE crops being planted in commercial quantities nowadays are either bred to contain the Bt gene or a herbicide-tolerant gene. The Bt gene confers protection from a specific insect pest. The planting of a Bt crop is associated with decreased pesticide use and cleaner grains. In China, as much as an 80% decrease in pesticide use has been reported with Bt crops. In the USA, farmers planting Bt cotton used 450,000 kgs. less pesticide in 1998. Another major crop with the Bt gene is corn. Planting Bt corn is beneficial only in cases when the population of its insect pest, the corn borer, is very high. But consumers also benefit from Bt corn since this contains less cancer causing-substances compared with non-Bt corn. Corn farmers in General Santos City, Philippines noted that non-target insects survive on Bt corn unlike the total devastation to all insect populations brought about by chemical pesticide sprays.

The major crop with a herbicide-tolerant gene is the soybean and its adoption is also associated with less herbicide use. However, the major reason farmers are adopting herbicide-tolerant crops is because these require only a simple and flexible weed control program. Environmentalists find herbicide-tolerant crops compatible with sustainable agriculture since these crops allow zero tillage, thus preventing loss of top soil - a common erosion problem with conventional agriculture.

There are other GE crops in the market and many varieties are currently being developed. While earlier varieties are bred to address farmers' concerns like insect pests, later varieties address processors' concerns to increase processing recovery; traders' concerns to bring fresh produce in the market; and consumers' concerns for healthier produce. Examples include a high-solid tomato, long shelf-life carnations and Vitamin A rice. Each GE crop variety is unique and possesses properties different from other GE crop varieties. However, due to the novel method of developing a GE crop variety, concerns have been raised on possible risks of these crop varieties to human health and the environment. Hence, each GE crop variety being developed undergoes a series of tests. Only food crop varieties that pass toxicity and allergenecity tests are eventually commercialized. Hence, GE plants with reported adverse allergenic and health effects are not commercially grown; frequently mentioned are a soya plant with the brazil nut gene, the GE potato fed to rats with adverse effects, etc. Possible adverse environmental effects of GE crops loss of populations of non-target organisms, production of superweeds, creation of novel pathogens, and others are mitigated by risk management schemes.

Some interest groups have made it their agenda to spread unwarranted scenario about the adverse effects of GE crops to human health and the environment. Several agencies have therefore commissioned scientific review bodies to study these issues. The review bodies commissioned by the European Union, the US National Academy of Sciences and the Vatican Pontifical Academy similarly concluded that current commercial GE crops do not pose risks more than conventionally bred crops and that foods derived from GE crops do not pose a serious threat to public health. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said biotechnology offered the potential to boost crop yields in the developing world, as long as precautions were taken to protect people's health and the environment. GE technology is thus considered a major tool to achieve the goals of AFMA of increasing farmers' incomes and profitability, and of sustainable agriculture.

Noting that the environmental and health safety of GE crops is due to a rigid regulatory framework adopted by countries growing these crops, DA has formulated guidelines governing the importation, production and sale of transgenic crops in the Philippines. These guidelines have been subjected to a series of public consultations in Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon; and are currently being revised to incorporate suggestions gathered. In addition, the Department has in place a biotechnology program that aims to strengthen the capability of its various agencies for risk analysis and regulation of biotech products, to develop GE crops for resource-poor farmers, to improve research facilities and manpower, and to formulate and advocate the policies for the safe and appropriate use of biotechnology. The department finds it unfortunate that due to misinformation on GE crops being actively disseminated by foreign-funded groups, a few local government units have adopted policies against biotechnology to the detriment of the farmers in their locales. Some farmer groups, led by a 3,000-member farmer associations federation in General Santos City who have monitored the first Bt corn trial in the country, are lobbying the department to facilitate the introduction of GE crops for production.