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NOT MISSING THE CHANCE: HOW GM MAIZE CHANGED THE LIFE OF A VIETNAMESE FARMER AND HIS COMMUNITY

A joint project of CropLife Asia & the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)

Well into his senior years, Vietnamese farmer, Hoang Trong Ngai, 69, reflects on how adopting genetically modified (GM) maize has benefited not just him but his community as well.

Ngai first heard about GM maize in 2015, when he attended a farmer’s conference organized by the provincial government. Back then, Vietnamese farmers were still hesitant to adopt GM crops since they knew little about it.

However, among the technologies presented during the event, it was GM maize that caught Ngai’s attention. So much so that he quickly began testing several varieties and finally settled on a GM hybrid which is one of the widely adaptable varieties in Vietnam. According to Ngai, the crop produced higher yield and had better resistance to pests and diseases compared with the conventional variety. It was also suitable for local soil conditions.

ECONOMIC GAINS

Starting with merely a hectare of farmland in 2015, Ngai now plants GM maize on nearly three hectares. The average yield of the GM variety is 15% higher (55 quintals/ha) than that of traditional varieties (47.9 quintals/ha), which makes him and his family one of the highest corn producers in the Vinh Phuc province. “With GM maize, we can harvest as much as 60 quintals/ha when the weather is good. It also requires minimum care and reduced pesticide use,” Ngai shares.

The GM maize also generates higher profits. With 2.6 ha of farm area and two production seasons per year, Ngai earns 41% more (3,914 USD/crop) than the average annual income of farmers planting conventional maize (2,759.5 USD/crop).

While farmers can apply the same planting technique used for conventional varieties, GM maize comes with added savings since it does not require any pesticides. It also reduces the cost of labor for land preparation. Ngai recalls, “we had to employ 25 laborers to till the land but now, it only takes three family members to prepare the land for cultivation.” “With these savings, I can say that the total production cost of GM maize is significantly lower compared to traditional varieties,” he adds.

IMPROVED FARMING METHODS

Ngai also saw huge improvements in his farming practices. “We used to till the land manually, which led to low sowing density. Only two crops per season (corn crop and cash crop) were planted on the family farmland. But since the GM maize variety has better tolerance and shorter growing period (115 days), I was able to re-arrange the planting schedule to accommodate three crops in the farm.” More importantly, Ngai does not use insecticides anymore. This, he notes, is one of the biggest benefits of planting GM maize.

“…since the GM maize variety has better tolerance and shorter growing period, I was able to re-arrange the planting schedule to accommodate three crops in the farm.” – Hoang Trong Ngai

PERSONAL GAINS

With his increased income, Ngai was able to support the needs of his family and actively take part in community events. “I bought motorbikes and repaired our house. I was also able to send my children to college and buy them computers and phones that they need for online schooling,” he happily shares. Since they spend less time tending to their field now, their family has also been able to actively participate in other community activities.
Inspired by Ngai’s success, other farmers wanted to plant GM crops, too. To consolidate their efforts, Ngai established a farmer group in his community. The farmers have planted GM maize on 120 hectares in their district to date. “Since introducing GM maize to the community, the farmers have been working more closely together. We regularly exchange information and experiences with farmers within and outside the group,” he continues. The farmer group has also allowed members to share expenses for land preparation and harvesting.

HURDLES

Ngai admits that the progress of GM crops in Vietnam still face some challenges. Although “GM maize is still mainly consumed within the province and the local corn industry lacks linkages with animal feed processing enterprises to create a large raw material production area,” he explains.

The Vietnamese government has also officially banned the use of the herbicide Glyphosate in 2021, which is seen as an inconvenience for GM maize farmers. He adds, “The GM maize variety we are planting is insect-resistant, but we also used Glyphosate to control the weeds. Because of the ban, farmers must manually remove the weeds.”

Another challenge is land availability. Ngai shares that since more households in the Vinh Phuc province have converted their lands for growing other crops, flowers, and fruit trees, it has been difficult to expand the area for GM maize.

NGAI’S MESSAGE

With all its benefits, Ngai considers GM maize a personal success story. “Planting GM maize is efficient and low-cost. I can attest that it’s a safe investment for farmers.” He also advised fellow farmers to consult experts and test varieties to ensure that it’s suitable for local conditions.

Ngai further highlights the safety of GM crops. “The public should not be afraid of GM products. Other countries using it have proven its safety. My family and community have been cultivating GM maize for a long time without experiencing any health problems. This is even better than the traditional varieties since we don’t use insecticides,” he states.

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IN THE BUSINESS OF UPLIFTING LIVES: HOW BT CORN HELPED A FILIPINO FARMER STEER HIS COMMUNITY TO SUCCESS

A joint project of CropLife Asia & the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)

A man out of his mind! Leaving a stable job overseas to start farming back home might be seen as a move only an unstable person would do. Not for Emerson Agno, though, it was just the beginning of something worth the cliff jump.

Now at the helm of a successful business and an active farmer’s organization, Emerson and his business partner, Lualhati Alfonso Kimura, share how Bt corn opened opportunities for them to support his fellow farmers and made it their mission to transform them into ‘agripreneurs.’

“There’s no money in farming,” Emerson recalls the comments of his Filipino coworkers when he decided to resign from his job at a multi-national construction company in Qatar and come home to help supervise his family’s agricultural commodities business in 2018.
Four years later, he has proven them wrong.

Sparked by the desire to help fellow corn farmers in the province of Quezon, Emerson later founded the Gintong Butil (Golden Grain) Agricultural Commodities and Services Company together with Lualhati when he returned from working overseas. To further assist the farmers in their area, they formed a farmer’s organization in their barangay, the Samahan ng Masisipag na Magmamais ng Mangilag Norte, in which Emerson and Lualhati are the current president and vice president, respectively. Emerson is also the current president of the Quezon Corn Growers Federation.

From four hectares, Emerson and Lualhati now manage around 20 hectares of personal farmland dedicated to Bt corn. They are also involved in managing more than 200 hectares of land by financing farmer-partners within Quezon and neighboring provinces through Gintong Butil.

CHOOSING BT CORN

“When I was able to save enough money from working in Qatar, my father retired, and we decided to go back to farming and plant corn. We chose to plant Bt corn because there was a market for it,” says Emerson. Based on their estimates, Region 4-A, comprised of five provinces namely Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon (CALABARZON), can only produce five to eight percent of its total corn requirement. Most of the corn supply comes from the northern parts of the country. This presented an opportunity for them to fill up the market gap in the region.

Planting conventional varieties demands more labor and inputs compared to Bt corn, according to Emerson and Lualhati. Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt corn is a genetically modified (GM) corn variety that is resistant to the Asiatic corn borer. “The conventional corn is prone to pests and diseases, so it constantly needs pesticides, which adds to the production cost. With Bt corn, we mostly spray herbicides, and we only use Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA)-approved insecticides when needed for insects such as the fall armyworm. Using chemicals are necessary at times but we need to use it properly,” Lualhati further clarifies.

“Though it costs more compared to non-GMO seeds, the benefits and returns of a higher yield can cover those costs and more.”

 

They also saw the Bt corn produced better yield than the conventional variety, averaging around six to eight tons per hectare on their best crop season (the average yield for the conventional variety is 2-3 tons per hectare). “Since we are going to pour effort and resources into it, we might as well use high-yielding GM corn seeds. Though it costs more compared to non-GM seeds, the benefits and returns of a higher yield can cover those costs and more,” he notes. “We also promote Bt corn to the farmer-partners of Gintong Butil,” Lualhati adds.

BEING A FARMER-LEADER

At its core, Gintong Butil’s goal is to increase the income of corn growers in Quezon and nearby provinces and to help them address farming concerns from land preparation, harvesting, pricing, to selling their crops. “We assist them through financing and post- harvest equipment rental. Our farmer-partners often have no capital, so they loan from us with low interest rates. They usually pay us back after harvest. Members of the Samahan (farmer’s organization) can also rent farm equipment from Gintong Butil at a lower price,” Emerson explains. Additionally, the Samahan receives assistance (i.e., seeds, fertilizers, and equipment) from the Department of Agriculture (DA). The Samahan currently has 25 members within the barangay, but Gintong Butil supports around 50-70 farmer-partners throughout Quezon. They plan to expand the services of the company to the farthest towns in the province.

Aside from financial assistance, another concern that they are particularly keen to resolve through Gintong Butil is the presence of middlemen. “They normally buy the corn at a significantly lower price that they earn more than the farmers. We inform the farmers that they can process their own harvest, so they can keep their full income,” Lualhati continues.

Emerson and Lualhati happily share that their partner corn farmers now avail of Gintong Butil’s services instead of dealing with middlemen. After drying, they look for purchase orders from their partner feed mills and poultry farms so farmers can directly sell their harvests. “Our partner-farmers can now have a better life because they earn more,” she adds.

Gintong Butil also leads capacity-building activities for its farmer- partners. They coordinate with technicians from their suppliers as well as feed and fertilizer companies to train the farmers. They also encourage them to join trainings organized by the DA.

FROM FARMERS TO ‘AGRIPRENEURS’

From working abroad, managing Gintong Butil has become Emerson’s primary source of income. They only had a small truck, one tractor and a corn sheller when they started. They now have two tractors, dryers, and trucks. They were also able to build a warehouse with their earnings. Gintong Butil regularly supplies feed mills in Quezon, Laguna, and Batangas. Along with the yield of their farmer-partners, they also supply around 20-25 tons of Bt corn monthly to one of the major food manufacturers in the Philippines.

“As for business expansion, we are exploring if we can meet the demand of other companies. One challenge is having farmer-partners who know how to market new products,” Emerson admits. However, he observed that a lot of farmers still practice traditional farming methods that don’t increase their yield and harvest.

This, he says, is why farmers should be encouraged to be ‘agripreneurs.’ “They think that just because they are farmers, they can’t be entrepreneurs. We need to change their mindset that they, too, can earn more if they know the business side of farming,” he points out. Lualhati shares this sentiment and adds that the youth should have a similar outlook to motivate them to venture into agriculture. “We have to advocate that farming can be a main source of income.”

From conversations with their partners, Emerson and Lualhati believe that farmers need to be updated with modern technologies and farming practices. Machineries and post-harvest facilities in the area should also be available. One of the goals of the federation is to establish a post-harvest facility in the province with the assistance of DA and in partnership with Gintong Butil. They also encourage small-scale farmers to form organizations and consolidate their efforts since it is easier to negotiate or demand prices as a group.

“We feel that we have a social responsibility to lend a hand to our fellow farmers. As our income increase and our quality of life improves, so should theirs. At the end of the day, we are all in this together,” Emerson states.

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THE BOUNTY OF BT: STORIES OF SUCCESS FROM BT CORN GROWERS

A joint project of CropLife Asia & the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)

FROM OVERSEAS WORKER TO FARMER AND BIOTECH CHAMPION

Known in the Philippine agri-biotech community as the “Queen of Bt Corn,” Rosalie Ellasus shares her journey from working overseas to being a successful genetically modified (GM) corn farmer, and using her influence as a biotech advocate to inspire other farmers to plant GM crops.

Seated against a background of her lush corn fields, near a brand-new farm tractor, Rosalie fondly recalls how she initially had no background or interest in farming. Things changed when her husband died in 1995 and she decided to come home from working overseas to be with her three children. She invested her savings in a small farm, but the results were far from rosy. Her corn farm was riddled with pests and weeds; mere farm income was not enough to send her children to college. Selling the farm was not a lucrative option either.

In 2002, Rosalie attended a 16-week Integrated Pest Management-Farmer Field School (IPMFFS) for corn in her municipality. She notes that this was a defining moment since she learned about Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn, a GM corn variety that is resistant to the Asiatic corn borer. “We had a field trial and I volunteered to have a demo trial of Bt and non-Bt corn on my farm. We saw that Bt corn produced better yield than the conventional variety,” she adds. When the Philippine government approved the commercialization of Bt corn in 2003, Rosalie became one of the pioneer adaptors of the GM crop in the country. From just over one hectare of land in 2011, she now harvests corn from more than 10 hectares of farmland. Apart from Rosalie, other farmers in San Jacinto, Pangasinan have also found success in planting Bt corn.

“We saw that Bt corn produced better yield than the conventional variety.” – Rosalie Ellasus, Bt corn farmer, Philippines

Rosalie has enjoyed a multifaceted career over the years. On top of being a farmer, she also became a municipal councilor for nine years. She’s currently the Municipal Risk Reduction and Management Officer of her town. “I did not give up farming because I still wanted to provide livelihood to the farm workers that tend to my field,” she says.

She has also become one of the champions of biotech crops in the country. “Because of the positive outcome of the demo trial, I got invited to different gatherings in other towns to share my experience with the crop. That’s where my advocacy started. I want other farmers, big or small, to know that they, too, can have a better life with Bt corn,” Rosalie states. She admits that it’s rare for a farmer like her to be given the opportunity to travel, so it was a pleasure sharing her biotech experience with farmers in other countries such as Mexico, Peru, and Bangladesh.

In 2016, the Department of Agriculture- Biotechnology Program Office named her as one of the “Filipino Faces of Biotechnology” for her contributions to the country’s agribiotech sector. 

SHIFTING TO BT FOR GOOD

It has been 15 years since Zosimo Gonzales started planting Bt corn and he has no plans of turning back. Now 70 years old, he first knew of Bt corn when Rosalie introduced it in their area during the demo trial. “When we tried planting it ourselves, we were convinced that Bt corn was better since it was high yielding. The corn borers were also gone so we did not have to spend much on insecticides, unlike the conventional varieties where we had to apply large amounts of insecticides but still had less yield compared to Bt corn,” he explains.

With this additional income from Bt corn and a small rice field, he was able to build a house and buy farm equipment such as a tractor and water pump. Both his children were also able to finish their studies. “Recently, we harvested 15 tons of corn on my 1.7-hectare farm,” he adds.

“When we tried planting it ourselves, we were convinced that Bt corn was better since it was high yielding. The corn borers were also gone so we did not have to spend much on insecticides, unlike the conventional varieties where we had to apply large amounts of insecticides but still had less yield compared to Bt corn,” – Zosimo Gonzales, Bt corn farmer, Philippines

Husband and wife Trinidad and Saturnino Velasco, Sr., are also long-time Bt corn farmers from the area. Similar to Zosimo, the couple shifted to Bt corn after seeing its benefits. “We noticed an improvement in our farming methods. We used to spend a lot on insecticides, but now, we only spray it when needed.” Trinidad further clarifies, “there is no corn borer infestation anymore but sometimes, we still need to apply insecticides to eliminate other insects such as armyworms, fruit flies, and leafhoppers.”

“There are times that we are able to harvest 9.6 tons of corn per hectare. We will never get tired of planting Bt corn,” – Mr. & Mrs. Trinidad Velasco

“There are times that we are able to harvest 9.6 tons of corn per hectare. We will never get tired of planting Bt corn,” she happily shares. Saturnino continues, “we were able to send our five children to school and now, they all have good careers. We bought land and farm equipment. We were also able to buy a car with our income.”

Now in their sixties, the couple is still actively involved in managing their farm and they’ve hired other farmers to tend to their corn field. “We are glad to see fellow farmers such as Rosalie succeed because we are also encouraged to produce better crops. It’s like a friendly competition,” says Trinidad.

Another farmer in the area, Romeo Velasco, echoes similar sentiments. “Aside from higher income and improved farming practices, I can confidently say that Bt corn is safe for humans. I’ve been planting it for almost 10 years, and I haven’t experienced any negative side effects. It’s also safer than the conventional varieties since we use fewer insecticides,” he shares. With 25 hectares of land dedicated to Bt corn, Romeo shares that he has been able to help a lot of his fellow farmers in the area. “They have regular jobs because of farming, and they use this to pay for their children’s schooling and to support the other needs of their families.” His farm income also goes into the expansion of his agriculture supplies business.

“Aside from higher income and improved farming practices, I can confidently say that Bt corn is safe for humans. I’ve been planting it for almost 10 years, and I haven’t experienced any negative side effects. It’s also safer than the conventional varieties since we use fewer insecticides,” – Romeo Velasco, Bt corn farmer, Philippines

“Corn farming used to be labor-intensive,” Rosalie recalls. Before, there were many activities involved during the planting season (i.e., plowing, fertilization, weeding, de-tasseling, watering, insecticide spraying, etc.) which were also costly. With Bt corn, this tedious process has been simplified. “The farmer just needs to focus on fertilization, watering, and manpower. We spray Glyphosate to get rid of the weeds, but the overall production cost has been reduced. Now, we can easily sell our corn to feed millers and traders since it’s not infested by corn borers,” she elaborates. Rosalie also attests to the safety of Bt corn. “We have been feeding Bt corn to our livestock for years and there have been no adverse effects.”

“More importantly, my children were able to finish university, which was my main concern when I became a single parent. I am now helping with the education of my grandchildren. I was also able to establish other businesses and buy farm equipment. Our life has certainly improved because of Bt corn,” she beams.

AGTECH IS THE FUTURE

Zosimo recalls that he was not frightened to try the technology when it was first introduced. “I have no regrets with planting Bt corn. Why would I be afraid of it? Farmers need to open their minds to modern technologies. These won’t be introduced to us if it will just cause more damage to our crops.” He also hopes that their experience will help convince farmers to plant Bt corn.

Meanwhile, Trinidad and Saturnino feel fortunate that they discovered Bt corn and enjoy its benefits. “If given the chance, we will still choose to plant Bt corn. It’s more profitable than the conventional ones,” they add.

Romeo shared his aspirations and hopes that the GM corn variety in the country will be further improved so that more farmers will be encouraged to plant it. “I also plan to expand my farm so I can employ more corn farmers in my area. That way, I can help them provide for their families,” he says.

Similarly, Rosalie expressed the need to advance technologies and biotech products in the country. She mentioned that farmers also need climate-resilient crops to cope with agricultural challenges. She expounds, “we need to invest in smart agriculture and biotechnology, otherwise, the Philippines will be left behind. Agriculture and technology should go hand in hand.”

For such an accomplished farming career, Rosalie plans to carry on with her biotech advocacy. “I still want to inspire other farmers especially the younger ones, to venture into agriculture, particularly GM crops. I can also explore other opportunities so that I can continue being of service to the people of San Jacinto and perhaps even beyond!”

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