Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology Products
Public Acceptance
Public acceptance of modern biotechnology was clearly attained last year when the Philippines
joined for the first time the mega-country group producing agricultural biotech products.
The Philippines now ranks 14 among mega-countries producing agricultural biotech products
(Table 3). This was made possible by the contributions of the various advocates for modern biotechnology
and the growing policy support provided by the government. The advocacy activities
paved the way for a more open and transparent dialogue among key stakeholders—government,
the private sector, academia, NGOs, and farmers. It also blocked the passage of bills and resolutions
in Congress attempting to impose a moratorium on activities related to biotechnology and
GMOs. Particularly in 2000, during the height of anti-biotech sentiments, Senate Report No. 397
recommended that the proposed moratorium on activities related to biotechnology and GMOs
would in effect stifle the impetus of human innovation and inventiveness and exclude the Philippines
from the tide of technological advances now prevalent elsewhere in the world.
Table 3. Mega-countries Producing Agricultural Biotechnology
(Bt corn) Products
Country Million hectares
(planted to Bt corn)
Percent
USA 47.6 59
Argentina 16.2 20
Canada 5.4 6
Brazil 5.0 6
China 3.7 5
Paraguay 1.2 5
India 0.5 1
South Africa 0.5 1
Uruguay 0.3 less than 1
Australia 0.2 less than 1
Romania 0.1 less than 1
Mexico 0.1 less than 1
Spain 0.1 less than 1
Philippines 0.1 less than 1
Source: Philippines Today, 2005
Among the different actors who played major roles in biotechnology advocacy were, in no
particular order, the various professional groups and nongovernment organizations, such as the
Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines and the Philippine Maize Farmers Association,
private companies like Monsanto Philippines and Pioneer-Dupont, regional and international organizations
like the Southeast Asia Regional Center for Agriculture-Biotechnology Information
Center and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, public
research institutions such as the University of the Philippines National Institute of Molecular
Biology and Biotechnology and Institute of Plant Breeding, and government departments such as
the DOST–National Academy of Science and Technology and the Philippine Council for
Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) as well as
the Department of Agriculture DA–Biotechnology Implementation Unit
Policy Support
The key government policy support that set the stage for the application of modern biotechnology
was direct funding support for R&D and capability building. Five projects in genetic engineering
were approved by former President Fidel V. Ramos in 1997. From 1998 to 2002, a
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