The government should closely study the commercialization process of genetically modified (GM) cotton in countries as Australia, India, and China in order to successfully test the GM cotton in the local field where cotton growing is believed to have huge growth potentials. 

Vic Alpuerto, technology chief of pioneering GM research firm Monsanto Philippines Inc. (MPI), said government should communicate with the US office of Monsanto with regard to its request to use Monsanto's GM technology on cotton. 

"What the Philippine government can do is to determine the setup in the commercialization of Bt cotton in other countries where smallholder farms use the technology. I don't know if these countries have arrangements with top management (of Monsanto)," he said in an interview. 

Alpuerto said that the Philippines should find out why certain countries, China and India, have been able to adopt the Monsanto-developed technology even if these are being used by just small farmers tending farms of one hectare and below. 

He admitted it is not Monsanto's priority to develop Bt cotton in the Philippines since MPI presently has multi-locational testings of herbicide-resistant Bt corn along with a plan to test stacktrait corn. 

The Philippines has been planning for the last two years to test the GM Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton in the local farms as the technology was proven to be resistant to bollworm and resists infestation which destroys 80 percent of harvest.

However, Aida Solsoloy, project leader at the Cotton Development Authority (CDA), said the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines (NCBP) refuses to approve CDA's request for Bt cotton testing as Monsanto has not yet given a consent on the use of the GM technology that it developed. 

"NCBP can't allow it in deference to the technology developer. We don't have a word yet from the technology developer," said Solsoloy. 

She said that India has been able to adopt the technology through a Monsanto-licensee Mahyco, a seed grower, which enabled huge farm areas in India to be devoted to the GM cotton called Bollgard.