December 2, 2003

Philippines Beefing Up Agricultural Biotechnology
 

A Filipino expert on biotechnology recently warned the agricultural industry to continue developing biotechnology in the Philippines as our Asian neighbors are fast catching up with the technology.

Dr. Benigno Peczon, a PhD graduate from Purdue University and the current president of the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines (BCP), said that the Thai government is honing up on its biotechnology initiatives and is determined to lead the region in this field.

He warned if the Philippines reneged on biotechnology research the country will again be left behind in this field, which has already been the case in the rice research regime, whereby Philippines were overtaken by neighbouring countries. The country used to lead in rice research and development in the 1960¡¯s.

The Philippines, being the first country in Asia to commercially plant biotechnologically modified food crops, is currently ahead in the field of agricultural biotechnology.

Peczon explained that with the necessary strides being done by Thailand to venture into a more aggressive biotech policy, "they could well overtake the Philippines in the next 10 years".