Agri-biotechnology answer to food security

PARTICIPANTS from the media were briefed on the developments in agricultural biotechnology in the country in a multisectoral forum held in Cagayan de Oro City Wednesday.

The forum was organized by Asfarnet (Asian Farmers Regional Network) Philippines.

Asfarnet which promotes responsible farming and policies to improve the quality of farmers lives and the environment, underscored the importance of biotechnology in closing the gap between increasing population and the ability of countries to produce food in spite of the dwindling arable land.

Reynaldo Cabanao, Asfarnet-Philippines president, said the forum hopes to share the information on biotechnology with the participants.

Asfarnet was conceived by farmers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam who participated in the workshop, Farmer to Farmer: Sharing Experiences Related to Biotechnology, held in Manila and Cagayan de Oro City in 2003.

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application (ISAAA) said biotech crops are the fastest adopted crop technology in the world.

Dr. Rhodora Aldemita, ISAAA senior program officer, said the development in agri-biotechnology in the world has the new and rigorous 2014 comprehensive global meta-analysis of 147 published biotech crop studies over the last 20 years.

She said the meta-analysis, which was conducted by Klumper and Qaim concluded that on the average genetic modification technology adopted has reduced chemical pesticide use by 37 percent, increased crop yields by 22 percent and increased farmer profits by 68 percent.

With biotechnology our agriculture would use less and less chemicals to fight insect infestation, chemicals that are harmful to humans,Aldemita said.

ISAAA said the United Nations Population Council predicts that by 2050 the global population would reach 9 billion and feeding them would be a daunting challenge.

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Agri-biotechnology answer to food security