by Ranell Martin M. Dedicatoria, KMD-SEARCA
22-January-2010 SEARCA News Release
Biotech engineering of high value fruit and vegetable crops can increase incomes of farmers in developing countries.
This was the main theme of the book, Projected Impacts of Agricultural Biotechnologies for Fruits and Vegetables in the Philippines and Indonesia, published by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). It presents the results of a series of studies that assessed the potential economic impacts of bio-engineered eggplant, papaya, and tomato in the Philippines; and potato and tomato in Indonesia.
The book summarizes the projected level and distribution of costs and benefits associated with these biotech crops, including the value of environmental impacts. The importance of moving products to commercialization stage as rapidly as possible is also highlighted.
The book is edited by Mr. George W. Norton from the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; and Ms. Desiree M. Hautea from the Institute of Plant Breeding, Crop Science Cluster, College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines Los Baños.
Divided into 12 chapters, it features research and development (R&D) activities on biotech crops which have been undertaken since 2003 under the auspices of the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII) for the purpose of commercializing products that solve major pest problems in the target commodities and countries.
Dr. Emil Q. Javier, President of the National Academy of Science and Technology Philippines, commends the efforts of ISAAA and SEARCA in producing this knowledge product. "I congratulate ISAAA and SEARCA for their initiative in publishing the results of these studies… it is hoped that the additional valuable information contained in this book would contribute to the stock of knowledge on biotech crops and would help serve as basis for development, deployment, and adoption of the featured biotech crops in the near future," he said.
ABSPII is a consortium of public and private sector institutions led by Cornell University and supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It focuses on the safe and effective development and commercialization of bio-engineered crops as a complement to traditional and organic agricultural approaches in developing countries. The project helps boost food security, economic growth, nutrition, and environmental quality in East and West Africa, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.
__________
For more information, contact the ISAAA SEAsiaCenter, 3/F Khush Hall, IRRI, Los Baños, Laguna, 4030, Philippines. Or e-mail isaaa-seasia@isaaa.org.
