Source: BioLife via SEAMEO SEARCA
BioLife is a bi-monthly magazine published by the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines in cooperation with the J. Burgos Media Services Inc.
http://www.bic.searca.org/bmarc/biolife_sep_oct06.pdf

A leading developer, producer and distributor of hybrid corn seeds is now developing three new hybrid-corn varieties to meet the demand of Filipino farmers.

Pioneer Hi-Bred Philippines, Inc. announced that new hybrid-corn varieties are now in different stages of development and will be ready in the next 10 years.

A subsidiary of the US-based Pioneer Hi-bred International, Inc., Pioneer expects to come up with drought-resistant corn, a corn variety that will increase ethanol yield, and a corn variety with nitrogen-use-efficiency trait.

Jet G. Parma, Pioneer country manager, is confident that the new hybrid corn varieties will boost corn production
and will help the country achieve corn self-sufficiency. He is also confident of getting the approval of National Committee on Biosafety the Philippines (NCBP), which assesses the safeness of genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) and their products before they are released to the environment or approved for commercial release in
the market.

Parma said the hybrid-corn varieties will help increase farmers’ income the way hybrid-corn farmers who planted Bt corn did since its introduction in December 2002.

In fact, Parma said most of the company’s Top 30 Hybrid Corn Farmers Award winners this year are planting Bt corn.

The farmers are able to produce between eight metric tons to 10 metric tons per hectare and earned an average net income between P50,000 to P60,000 per hectare per harvest.

Parma said the three new varieties being developed by the company will make corn farming more profitable, noting that they fit farming in the Philippine setting.

According to Parma, the initiative to develop new corn varieties through the recombinant DNA technology or gene-splicing technology is part of the company’s thrust to help farmers, and make the corn industry boom to make the economy grow at the macro level.

He said Filipino farmers are now growing genetically improved corn varieties, with traits that have resistance to the Asiatic corn borer, a variety tolerant to glyphosate-based herbicide, and a variety that has both characteristics, the company further intends to produce quality seeds with such new traits, taking note of the problems besetting the agriculture sector.

Parma said a variety with drought-tolerance trait is still in the early stage of development. Corn with such trait, he said, fits the needs of farmers in areas where irrigation is poor or where there is no irrigation at all.

Pioneer is working to develop hybrid corn that uses water sources more efficiently. Such variety is expected
to perform better even when water is scarce or during El Niño. With such variety, irrigation costs will be reduced to some extent, while the risk of yield losses due to drought
is minimized. Parma said Pioneer is looking at seven to 10 years for the technology to be out in the market.

Another variety that will ensure increased ethanol yield is also in the early stage of development. This will make
corn-ethanol production more efficient, supporting the government’s initiative to develop renewable source of
energy like biofuels. “The increase in use of biofuels, like ethanol from corn, in the future will contribute to the government’s effort to reduce air pollution,” Parma said.

The third variety is expected to efficiently use nitrogen in the air. Such corn variety will help reduce the use of imported fertilizers thereby, reducing the production cost of farmers. Health risks will be minimal as the use of chemical fertilizers will be minimized.