By Rudy A Fernandez
The Philippine Star via
Checkbiotech.org
Within three years, a genetically modified organism (GMO)
peanut will be commercialized in groundnut-producing countries.
The transgenic peanut variety has been developed by the
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
(ICRISAT).
India-based ICRISAT is headed by Dr. William D. Dar, former
DA Acting Secretary and the first director of the DA-Bureau of
Agricultural Research (BAR). Currently headed by Director
William C. Medrano, Bar is the DA agency mandated to "ensure
that all agricultural research is coordinated and undertaken for
maximum utility to agriculture."
Dr. Dar had earlier told The STAR that the GMO peanut was
being tested in greenhouses and fields in India. Results of the
initial trial showed that the new peanut yielded 30 percent more
than the farmers’ traditional varieties.
As reported by BAR’s Rita dela Cruz, ICRISAT, before coming
out with the new groundnut, had screened more than 10,000 peanut
line to identify traditional resistance to peanut clump virus
(PCV), a type of virus transmitted by a soil-borne fungus. The
symptoms of the disease are stunted growth and discolored
leaves.
Every year, PCV causes a loss of $40 million in
peanut-producing countries across the world. It also affects
various economically important crops such as corn, sugarcane,
sorghum, cowpea, and other legumes.
