29 Abril 2024, Lunes
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CA ruling vs Bt eggplant, GMO hit
By J.Lo
“Court proceedings that led to this decision are just latest of very expensive legal struggles initiated by the same group for more than 20 years, not only in the Philippines, to stop use of modern methods to solve problems of poverty, hunger and degradation of environment through plant breeding,” National Academy of Science and Technology – Agricultural Sciences Division (NAST-ASD) said in position paper legal victory for militant group Greenpeace, regrettable loss for Filipinos.
This was how the country’s respected academicians and agricultural scientists described Court of Appeals’ April 17 ruling granted petition by Greenpeace and its local allies to impose moratorium on research and development of genetically modified organisms (GMO), and commercial propagation of Bt eggplant and Golden Rice.
Bt eggplant was genetically engineered to protect plant from destructive insect pest. Golden Rice has been fortified with beta carotene to address Vitamin A deficiency in humans.
“Same issues used by Greenpeace to convince court were earlier dismissed by Department of Agriculture and repudiated by 129 Nobel Prize Laureates and millions of farmers,” NAST agricultural scientists and academicians added.
For them, court decision amounts to weaponization of law to favor extreme ideology about nature pristine environment must be preserved and modern biological technology is working against this goal.
“This is contrary to our knowledge that nature is characterized by constant change some of them man-made, but most of apocalyptic changes were through natural forces… among these are climate change, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes,” they said.
Composed of country’s most respected and awarded scientists and researchers, NAST, under Department of Science and Technology (DOST), is country’s highest recognition and scientific advisory body.
“We are alarmed relatively trivial flaws such as title of representative to local biotechnology regulating body are given undue importance in court deliberations, while insufficiently addressing bigger question of costs and benefits of technology to society, we are finally concerned that continuing delay in use of Bt eggplant and golden rice is causing more harm than good,” NAST-ASD said.
Experts noted that as of 2019, similar products had been used safely by 15 million farmers in 29 countries, including Philippines.
NAST academicians and scientists reiterated that agriculture biotechnology has been big boon to global effort at greatly reducing need to use chemical fertilizers in food production, becoming intensifying challenge due to climate change and global warming.
Eggplant and rice farming, especially large-scale rice farming, currently makes use of much fertilizer spray and pellets to assure harvest of commercial eggplants and rice grains by farmers.
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