Print this news Philippines PHILIPPINE CO TO HARVEST GENETICALLY-MODIFIED CORN CROP by Rhea Sandique-Carlos 18-Oct-2001 Dow Jones   MANILA -(Dow Jones)- Field testing by a Philippine company of the genetically modified bacillus thuringiensis corn, or Bt corn, will soon be completed as the crops are ready for harvest anytime within the month until November. Genetically modified corn crops will be harvested one after the other starting this month, Dr. Arnold Estrada, product development manager of Monsanto Philippines, Inc., said Thursday. Monsanto Philippines, a unit of the U.S.-based Monsanto Co. (MON), has undertaken field testing in six approved sites located in various parts of the country. Once harvesting is completed, Monsanto will be preparing for another field testing, this time for the dry season crop. The soon to be harvested corn crops are intended to determine the efficacy of the technology during the wet season, Estrada said. "Conditions are different during the dry season so we have to do another field trial," he said. But Monsanto is yet to obtain the approval of the National Committee on Biosafety in the Philippines, or NCBP, for the dry season field trial, Estrada said. NCBP is in charged of regulating the use of genetically modified crops and products in the country. "They want us to comply with certain space and time requirements," Estrada said. He said NCBP wouldn't want the field testing to be undertaken simultaneously with the planting of the regular corn crops. Estrada said while commercialization of the Bt corn crop in the country would be the ultimate goal of the field testing, such scenario isn't expected to happen in the near future. "It would take years to develop the guidelines for commercialization," he said. "The Bt corn technology has been proven effective in the U.S., and the field testings are designed to determine whether that same technology is applicable here," he added. The Bt corn variety is resistant to the Asian corn borer, the most common pest encountered by corn producers in the country. Print this news SEAMEO SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center http://www.bic.searca.org		Philippine co to harvest genetically-modified corn crop       Greenpeace starts Web initiative       Global GM growing amid health debate       Controversial Bt corn ready for harvest in the Philippines       Monsanto awaiting RP rules on GMO trading       More news...