by Melody Aguiba
Manila Bulletin via SEARCA

One year after the approval for commercialization of the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn, commercialization of the genetically modified corn variety has apparently failed to pick-up nor add up to local corn production whose shortfall amounts to 1 to 1.2 million metric tons (MT) yearly.

Noel Borlongan, government and public affairs director of Bt corn developer Monsanto Philippines Inc. (MPI), said this year's commercial planting of Bt corn has been severely blocked by the numerous typhoons that hit the country, particularly Harurot which is estimated to have destroyed some 440,000 MT of corn crop in Northern Luzon.

"There should have been 2,000 hectares, but the crops were destroyed by typhoons," Borlongan said.

MPI has earlier been targeting to market Bt corn on a total of 40,000 hectares for the year. As a seed producer, MPI sells the Bt corn seed, commercially called "YieldGard," to distributors which, in turn, sell the corn variety to farmers.

The lackluster movement of Bt corn's commercialization is being attributed mainly to the high price of the seed which MPI sells at half of the price of the seed which MPI sells at P4,500 per bag while non-Bt varieties only sell at half of the price or are even available in the field for free.

Of course, industry authorities think the seed's developer has the right to price Bt corn higher with the investment poured in for its development.

In order to counter price prohibitions of Bt corn, Borlongan said MPI is bringing down Bt corn's selling cost with a scheme called "3+1" or farmers get a discount by getting one bag for free after buying three bags. He explains farmers' return on investment in Bt corn remains unquestionable.

"The 3+1 is (in effect) a 25 percent discount," he said. "This is an investment (on the part) of farmers. An increase in one ton in their yield gives them an additional P7,000 at (corn price of) P7 per kilo," he said.

MPI tested Bt corn in the Philippines for around three years including green-house testing, limited field testing, and three seasons of multi-locational testing.

MPI's Bt corn is an enhancement of the high yielding variety, hybrid corn, which MPI also produces locally. It is, in itself, hybrid corn which has the potential of yielding three to five times higher than national corn average yield of two metric tons (MT) per hectare or up four to 10 MT per hectare.

Moreover, with the protein resistant to the Asiatic corn borer (ACB) injected in Bt corn, Bt corn is expected to resist ACB infestation. However, it is only suitable to farm areas heavily infested with ACB.

After the dull pick-up of Bt corn commercialization, Borlongan said MPI is targeting planting of Bt corn on at least 10,000 hectares by the on-going dry season (November 2003 to April 2004). At such area, Bt corn should augment corn production this season by 20,000 to 80,000 MT with an increment in corn yield of two to eight MT per hectare compared to traditional corn varieties.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is targeting to harvest five million MT of corn in 2004, up by 8.45 percent from predicted 2003 output of 4.61 million MT. Yet, this increased corn production still leaves a shortfall of 500,000 MT costing government some $60 million in foreign exchange spending.