Better Food Crop Seeds Needed for Philippine Farmers

BPI challenged to develop ‘better-engineered’ food crops to help farmers vs climate change.

The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) was challenged to develop “better-engineered” food crops, including genetically modified ones, that could withstand the devastating effects of climate change.

BPI, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), has what Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap calls a “critical” job of developing seeds that can withstand harsh weather patterns.

“Your job at BPI is critical. You have to move our farms to better-quality crops and that begins with seeds,” said Yap in a statement.

Yap called on the BPI to take advantage of the attention that the government and the world have given agriculture by spearheading programs that would open opportunities for small farmers to earn more and produce more food.

He cited the BPI’s achievements, which include working for the registration of 122 crop varieties with the National Seed Industry Council and substantially contributing to efforts aimed at making the Philippines one of the world’s leading sources of fruits and vegetables, including mangoes, bananas and asparagus via the establishment of, among others, a mango gene bank that contains 100 accessions of mango varieties and carabao strains for future breeding works.

The DA chief also cited the BPI’s initiatives in developing cheap, practical, and environmentally safe technologies to control the bugtok bacterial hard-puff disease affecting bananas and the crafting of genetically modified (GM) crop regulations and the biosafety regulatory framework on GM crops that is regarded as a model system in Asia.

The Philippines is already feeling the effects of climate change with the onslaught of a mild El Niño which threatens to destroy crucial food crops like palay and corn.

Under a mild El Niño, the DA estimates losses of 264,940 metric tons (MT) of rice worth close to P4 billion and 174,224 MT of corn valued at P2.26 billion.  The fisheries subsector could lose 21,181 MT of catch worth P1.27 billion, while losses in the high-value commercial crops (HVCCs) sector could reach 3.17 million MT valued at P583 million.

A severe dry spell could lead to losses of 816,372 MT of rice worth P12.24 billion; 440,429 MT of corn worth P5.2 billion; 42,362 MT of marine catch worth P2.54 billion; and 3.08 million MT of HVCCs worth 443 million.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration had reported that this year’s El Niño would likely be moderate, the DA noted.

As early as December last year, the DA had already created a task force to carry out its five-point program to raise crop production along with farmers’ incomes in the face of a looming El Niño attack that is expected to last till early this year.

The task force, which will implement the DA’s El Niño Mitigation Program, will focus on 23 “highly vulnerable” areas and 24 “moderately vulnerable” areas in the country.

The areas considered highly vulnerable to El Niño are Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, La Union, Pangasinan, Cagayan, Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Cavite, Rizal, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, Capiz, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Zamboanga City, Sarangani and South Cotabato.

By Business Mirror

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