Tag Archives: Philippines

Latest News, Press Release

OVER 68% OF FARMERS IN SE ASIA’S BIGGEST CROP-PRODUCING COUNTRIES CLAIM CLIMATE CHANGE AS KEY CHALLENGE

New Research Reveals Growers in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand & Vietnam Increasingly Impacted by Effects of Climate Change

Singapore, 30 August 2021 – A finding officially released today highlights a key challenge with regional food production – chiefly that a significant number of growers in Southeast Asia’s largest agricultural-producing countries are concerned with the impact of climate change (68.5%).

This finding, part of new research titled the 2021 ASEAN Farmer Sustainability & Resilience Study, was conducted by leading agricultural and animal health market research company Kynetec and carried out in the first quarter of 2021. CropLife Asia contracted with Kynetec to conduct the survey among 525 corn, rice, fruit and vegetable farmers across Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released a report warning against the effects of climate change and calling for rapid actions in global cooperation. The report was referred to by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres as “code red for humanity” and has spurred additional discourse on how society can support more aggressive climate change action.

“Farmers across Southeast Asia are facing increasing challenges that threaten their livelihood, food supply chain resiliency, and the sustainable supply of safe and nutritious food on which we all depend,” said Dr. Siang Hee Tan, Executive Director of CropLife Asia. “As the prevalence of climate change-induced droughts, floods and erratic weather patterns continue to grow, Southeast Asia’s smallholder farmers are under tremendous pressure to cope. There is no food and agriculture stakeholder more important than our farmers – and no voice more critical than theirs in the debate around how to make our food systems more resilient. We owe these food heroes our attention and full support.”

While over 68% of farmers surveyed noted the effects of climate change (flood, drought) as a challenge of unique concern, the number of farmers from the Philippines and Vietnam raising their concern with climate change was particularly high. In those countries, the number was 77% and 70% respectively.

The innovative technologies of plant science continue to enable farmers to produce more safe and nutritious food with fewer impacts to the world around us. Biotech crops have been developed with improved traits such as increased yield, better resistance to pests and/or improved nutrition, among others – and allow for sequestration of carbon in the soil through practices such as no-till farming. These are crucial tools that help farmers address global challenges such as food insecurity and climate change.

Meanwhile, farmers rely on crop protection products (or pesticides) to grow more food on less land and raise productivity per hectare. Without pesticides, 40% of global rice and maize harvests could be lost every year and losses for fruits and vegetables could be as high as 50-90%. These losses in yield would likely mean additional land would need to be cleared for agriculture, leading to increased carbon emissions.

More findings from the 2021 ASEAN Farmer Sustainability & Resilience Study are scheduled to be released throughout the remainder of this year.

About CropLife Asia

CropLife Asia is a non-profit society and the regional organization of CropLife International, the voice of the global plant science industry.  We advocate a safe, secure food supply, and our vision is food security enabled by innovative agriculture.  CropLife Asia supports the work of 15 member associations across the continent and is led by eight member companies at the forefront of crop protection, seeds and/or biotechnology research and development.  For more information, visit us at www.croplifeasia.org.

For more information please contact:
Duke Hipp
Director, Public Affairs
CropLife Asia
Tel: (65) 6221 1615
duke.hipp@croplifeasia.org

Feature Section, Latest News, Video

THE PAN-ASIA FARMERS EXCHANGE PROGRAM HELD VIRTUALLY FOR THE FIRST TIME

Video

On November 16 -20, 2020, about a hundred participants from Australia, China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and the US attended the first virtual Pan-Asia Farmers Exchange Program. In its 14th year, CropLife Asia, CropLife Philippines and the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines organized and held the week long event as an online two-hour webinar each day.

Farmers, scientists and the academe, government officers and policy makers and experts on industry shared their knowledge and experiences in the fields of agricultural biotechnology, regulations, communications and commercial growing of biotech crops . Companies and institutions also gave virtual tours of their facilities and showcased how their products are produced and managed while ensuring its safety and quality, and following government regulations.

Below are the recorded videos of the 14th Pan-Asia Farmers Exchange Program.

INTRODUCTION TO BIOTECHNOLOGY

Day 1

During the 1st day, Dr. Rhodora Aldemita, the Director, of ISAAA Southeast Asia Center and Director of the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology – International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), gave an overview of modern biotechnology.

Dr. Russell Reinke, Theme Leader of the Improving Health Through Safe and Nutritionally Enhanced Rice Program at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), shared the Golden Rice Experience. And Dr. Szabolcs Ruthner, Regulatory Affairs Manager of the International Seed Federation (ISF), presented a quick overview of new plant breeding innovations.

This session was opened by Dr. Sianghee Tan, Executive Director of CropLife Asia and moderated by Ms. Sonny Tababa, Biotechnology Affairs Director of CropLife Asia.

BIOSAFETY REGULATIONS

Day 2

On the 2nd day, Dr. Saturnina C. Halos, President of the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines (BCP), discussed biosafety regulations, including environmental risk assessment and food safety assessment.

Dr. Gabriel Romero, Executive Director of the Philippine Seed Industry Association (PSIA) and Ms. Rosemary Richards, President of the Australian Oilseeds Federation, shared the road to commercialization of each of their very own country’s cultivated GM crop. Dr. Romero discussed about Bt Corn in the Philippines, and Ms. Richards talked about GM Canola in Australia.

This session was moderated by Mr. Abraham Manalo, the Executive Secretary of the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines (BCP).

BIOTECH COMMUNICATION WORKSHOP

Day 3

The 3rd day was all about science communication.

Ms. Ma. Aileen Garcia, Manager, Project Coordination and Stakeholder Advocacy of the Healthier Rice Program at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), gave an overview on science communication.

Dr. Xiaoqing Liu, Associate Research Fellow of the Biotechnology Research Institute at Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Mr. Anil Ghanwat, President of the Shetkari Sangathan (farmer association) in India; Ms. Annalyn Lopez, Director-Coordinator of the Biotechnology Program at the Philippine Department of Agriculture; and Ms. Ta Thi Kieu Anh from the Biodiversity Conservation Agency at the Vietnam Environment Administration shared their experiences in communicating biotechnology in their respective countries.

This session was moderated by Dr. Rhodora Aldemita, Director, ISAAA Southeast Asia Center; Director, Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).

EXPERIENCES IN COMMERCIAL GROWING OF BIOTECH CROPS

Day 4

On the 4th day, farmers from different countries shared their experiences in commercially growing GM crops.

Ms Belinda ‘Bindi’ Murray, a dryland broadacre farmer from Woodanilling in the Great Southern Western Australia talked about how they grow gm canola.

Mr. Tulus Panduwijaya, the director at Pt. Perkebunan Nusantara XI, a government-owned estate whose main business activity is the production of sugar, and Mr. Alex Suherman, the Biotech and Seeds Director of CropLife Indonesia took us on a virtual tour and learned about Indonesia’s gm sugarcane.

Mr Juanito Rama, a successful Bt corn farmer from Tarlac, Philippines, shared how Bt corn has improved and made their lives better. Moreover, Bt corn farmers from Vietnam, Mr Nguyen Thanh Phong from Nghe An Province, Mr Hoang Van Tuyen from Son La Province, and Mr Hoang Trong Ngai from Vinh Phuc Province also shared their experiences in growing Bt corn. On the other hand, Mr. Amir Hayyat Bhandara, a corn, cotton & wheat farmer in Pakpattan, Pakistan, shared his views and expressed how Pakistan farmers need to have access to this technology, to these biotech crops.

This session was moderated by Ms. Ma Emeru B. Rodriguez, Seeds Committee Vice Chairperson of CropLife Philippines.

Latest News

FILIPINO CROP SCIENTISTS TACKLE WAYS TO FACE CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBALIZATION

The Federation of Crop Science Societies gathered around 450 crop researchers from different regions of the Philippines for its 24th Scientific Conference in Diversion21 Hotel, Iloilo City on June 13-17, 2017. The conference aims to tackle crop research and its importance in facing climate change and globalization, focusing on its theme: Healthy and safe food production in response to climate change and globalization.

Dr. Vivencio Mamaril, OIC Director of the Bureau of Plant Industry and Director of the DA Biotechnology Program Implementation Unit, stressed that the Philippines is one of the top producers of biotech crops all over the world. He also discussed the Philippine experience in developing and implementing regulations on biotech crop during one of the plenary talks. Dr. Leocardio Sebastian of CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security discussed about the climate change preparedness of the Philippine agriculture industry. He encouraged the use of climate resilient crops to attain food security amid the effects of climate change.

Aside from the plenary talks, the latest crop researches in the Philippines will also be featured in oral and poster presentations. Outstanding researchers will also be honored and awarded during the conference.

This article was taken from ISAAA’s Crop Biotech Update. See the original article here. 

Feature Section, Latest News

STUDY ANALYZES 17 YEARS OF MODERN BIOTECH NEWS REPORTING IN THE PHILIPPINES

By: International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA)

The Philippine media developed a matured editorial position over 17 years of modern biotechnology reporting, according to the new publication of ISAAA titled From Fear to Facts: 17 Years of Agri-biotech Reporting in the Philippines (2000-2016). The publication is based on a study conducted by ISAAA and SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center published in the April 2017 issue of Philippine Journal of Crop Science.

The initial 10-year study (2000-2009) authored by Dr. Mariechel Navarro and colleagues showed that majority of the reports from the top newspapers, Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer, and Philippine Star were about the development and commercialization of biotech corn in the Philippines. The coverage was high in terms of the number of articles, but sensationalism and speculations were evident, since a biotech crop was just introduced and commercialized in the country. Negative metaphors such as “frankenfood” and “poison” were commonly used in the initial years of reporting. The follow up study (2010-2016) conducted by Kristine Grace Tome, Dr. Navarro, and colleagues showed that the use of fear metaphors declined, and an increasing effort to present science-based information became more evident in the succeeding years. More positive metaphors such as “new hope”, “answer to farmers’ dreams”, and “light of hope” were used in the articles depicting favorable potential or promise of the technology. Bt eggplant development and field trial case sparked the interest of journalists to write about biotechnology. Articles from Business Mirror were also included in the analysis of 2010-2016 articles due to its high coverage on biotechnology.

Media practitioners and scientists were encouraged to continue to collaborate to sustain media coverage of biotechnology in the Philippines. With the increasing use of social media, a new breed of information seekers and producers could help revolutionize discourses on biotechnology not just in the Philippines, but also in other countries.

Download the publication from the ISAAA website. Get a copy of the research article for more details.

This article was published in ISAAA’s Crop Biotech Update.  See original article link here.