January 30, 2009

The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCARRD) has approved a three-year research project worth P8.6 million (US$181,115.99) for the development of the Molecular Map-based Isolation and Characterization of Resistance Genes for Downy Mildew (DM) in corn.

 

PCARRD director Patricio Faylon said the DM is caused by Peronosclerospora philippinensis Weston (Shaw), is still one of the major corn diseases in the country despite earlier breakthroughs in chemical control.

 

The absence of DM resistant variety is forcing corn farmers to treat seeds with fungicide which can contaminate ground water and can cause cancer.

 

High incidence of DM has occurred in Northern Luzon and many parts of Mindanao particularly when seeds are not treated with fungicides. In severe infections, yield loss due to the disease was reported to be as high as 80 to100 percent.

 

The availability of DM resistant corn variety will hence benefit the farmers in terms of higher yield and income and better health, says PCCARD.

 

The project will be implemented by the Institute of Plant Breeding, University of the Philippines Los Baños (IPB-UPLB), College of Agriculture, Crops Science Cluster, Institute of Plant Breeding under the leadership of Dr. Hayde F. Galvez.

 

UPLB has been incorporating downy mildew resistance (DMR) in its corn breeding programme using conventional approaches, Faylon said.

 

Several resistant varieties have been released but it however succumbed to the disease through time.

 

Unlike conventional selection where plants are allowed to grow to maturity to determine their desirable traits, MAS uses genetic markers to do the same thing much faster.

 

DNA markers have been linked and identified with DM-resistance gene. The use of these markers to select the desired plants that carry the DM resistance genes has also been well-established in corn and other major crops like rice and wheat.

 

The project will use markers in selecting corn lines that carry resistance gene.

 

Such procedure will make the development of DM resistant-corn variety a lot faster. The DM-resistant corn varieties will then be tested in several locations of the country targeting the major corn-growing areas.

                                     

US$1 = P47.4834 (January 30, 2009)