Farmers have pressed the Supreme Court (SC) to make available seeds of the genetically modified (GM) Bt eggplant which will help alleviate poverty among farmers who depend on “cost-efficient technology” for their livelihood upliftment.
Eleven farmers filed a “petition-for-review-in-intervention” to SC question a decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) that effectively stopped commercial release of Bt eggplant.
The GM eggplant is resistant to the highly-infesting, income-depriving Eggplant Fruit and Shoot Borer (FSB).
“Petitioner farmers look forward to its availability for commercial use as a way of alleviating their plight against the challenges of propagating eggplants in general, and the devastation caused by the resilient EFSB,” the farmers said in the 57-page petition.
The petitioner-farmers plant eggplant in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon and Sta. Maria, Pangasinan.
They are Edgar C. Talasan, Eugene O. Halasan, David L. Casimero, George N. Matias, Laureano . Sanchez, Maximino N. Apelado, Danilo P. Doronio, Roberto L. Apelado, Marvin D. Matias, Emily S. Bitco, and Asuncion A. Desamito.
Some of them also plant Bt corn which is of similar technology as Bt eggplant.
There are 30,243 Filipino small scale eggplant farmers tilling an average of 7,000 square meters whom they may represent.
By stopping the commercial release of Bt eggplant seeds, the court is stopping technology innovation.
“The Honorable Court of Appeals is effectively requiring Filipino farmers to merely stand back and do nothing while EFSB continues to damage their crops and eat up into their profits and livelihood,” they said in their petition.
“Taken to its extreme, (the CA) would require petitioner farmers to cease and desist from cultivating crops as no form of innovation would be allowable.”
The farming industry is worried that any ban on Bt eggplant may adversely affect other similar GM technologies.
GM crops have at least 15 years of history of safe use both for human and the environment.
The technology using the Bt, Bacillus thuringiensis gene, has a 50-year record of safe use as an organic pesticide spray, the farmers claim.
Bt is a beneficial bacterium, just like those present in edible yoghurt.
Bt is readily available in the soil. Anyone may just pick a handful of soil without getting ill from the Bt bacterium.
They cited in the petition that their benefit will be an increase in net farm income of P130,225.
“Petitioner farmers are aware of the benefits of Bt technology, having witnessed (and for some, personally experienced) significant benefits from their shift from the farming of conventional maize to the cultivation of Bt corn,” they said in the petition.
Also, Filipino farmers not only suffer from high costs of inputs– fertilizers, seeds, insecticides and labor.
Worse, they do not enjoy the subsidy other Asian farmers do.
“This is exacerbated by the cheap subsidized eggplants from China, which operate to drive prices of eggplants downward,” they said in the petition.
Despite these, the EFSB infestation problem stands out.
“None of these challenges compare to the threat posed to the eggplant by the ubiquitous Eggplant Fruit and Shoot Borer, the most pervasive and destructive pest that specifically targets eggplants ,” the petition said.
But Bt eggplant will solve EFSB problem.
Based on completed field trials, Pangasinan farmers’ cost saving from eliminated pesticide use from Bt eggplant was P49,722 per hectare in the first season and P261,944 per hectare in the second.
In Camarines Sur, cost saving was P80,000 per hectare in the first season and P105,694 per hectare in the second season.
“The poverty-reducing impact of Bt eggplant technology among farmers-adopters is quite substantial,” the petition said.
They cited in the petition that EFSB pesters farmers in many ways.
“Affected neighbouring eggplant fields host adult EFSB moths which then fly to infest newly-planted eggplants. EFSB can also infest entire eggplant fields if old (infested), uprooted eggplants are not disposed of properly, allowing larvae already inside the eggplant fruit or shoot to mature into adult moths.”
Despite heavy use of pesticides, they still suffer from at least 40 percent loss from EFSB.
EFSB lowers the value of eggplants or renders these unsealeable as their tunnels and excreta left on the fruit make the fruit dirty.
“The EFSB contaminates the fruit and with their tunnel and excreta, causing discoloration and spoilage, as well as allowing secondary damage, (such as) fungal attack, making the fruit inedible and unmarketable.”
The pests are nocturnal and versatile.
This is why farmers resort to heavy chemical spraying, they admitted, which may cause harm on consumers and the environment. Most farmers spray eggplant in excess, spraying 60 to 80 times during a 120-day eggplant season.
They combine many stronger pesticide types to form a “cocktail.”
“The petitioner farmers have also been forced to use different types of pesticides which they apply in alternate out of apprehension that continuous use of a single pesticide may cause the EFSB to develop resistance to such pesticide.”
Bt eggplant, developed by the Institute of Plant Breeding-University of the Philippines, will solve this problem.
Against CA’s assumptions in its decision, Bt eggplant’s field trials complied with stringent regulations of the Bureau of Plant Industry for environmental and safe use.
The government, the farmers said, should support GM technology as the Philippines became “a leader in biotechnology in Southeast Asia” since 2002 having been first to introduce Bt corn.
“The field testing of Bt talong complied with all relevant and applicable laws and regulations.
The testing of GMOs is regulated by Philippine laws.
“(This is) contrary to the declaration of the Honorable Court of Appeals that ‘there is yet no law in the form of a Congressional enactment for ensuring Bt talong’s safety and levels of acceptable risks.’”
The laws are DA AO No. 08-2002 and Executive Order No. 514.
Bt eggplant will even enhance the environment and increase protection for consumers in eating eggplants that are not sprayed with pesticide.
“As borne by scientific evidence, as well as studies and reports of foreign governments and independent international organizations, Bt field testing, as well as Bt technology itself, will not damage the environment and will not have harmful effects on human health.”
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