TAMPAKAN, South Cotabato - Monsanto Philippines, the local subsidiary of a major US agribusiness brand, will release within the year its next engineered corn variety, a corn plant that is resistant to herbicide.

Ronaldo Cayomo, Monsanto-Mindanao team leader, said the company's latest genetically modified corn seed - DK818-RR - maybe released within the year.

This latest variety will be resistant to Roundup, a herbicide also developed by Monsanto. Mr. Cayomo explained that by spraying the weed-killing product, the corn will not get affected, unlike other varieties.

As to the reason Monsanto formulated the herbicide when it can kill other plants, Mr. Cayomo said this particular herbicide is environment-friendly as it is biodegradable.

With this newest variety, farmers will be able to save between P3,000 to P6,000, the amount spent per hectare for manual weeding, he added.

Earlier, the company got embroiled in a controversy when it started to produce Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn, a corn variety resistant to Asian corn borer pest.

As the first producer of Bt-corn seeds in the country, the company met stiff opposition from cause-oriented organizations, including Church-based groups, because of the perception that genetically modified products might affect humans and the environment.

In one instance, farmers backed by cause-oriented organizations, uprooted the corn plants in a field test here. However, despite the opposition, the government in December 2002 approved the commercialization of Bt corn.

Aside from the all-year round DK818YG, the other Bt-corn seed variety planted here is the DK9050YG, which is suitable during dry season.

Mr. Cayomo said Monsanto produces around 300,000 to 400,000 kilograms of Bt-corn seeds in its 200-hectare farms here, which can be planted in about 2,000 hectares of corn farms.

"We run short of seeds here. We still import," he said during a presentation to members of the media of its new test farm.

Although the seeds are expensive at P4,200 for every 50 kilograms, Mr. Cayomo said the price is reasonable because of the technology employed in formulating these new corn varieties which can fight certain problems.

On the average, said Francisco Camacho, Monsanto Mindanao technology development executive, Bt-corn yield is about 2.5 metric tons higher than the conventional corn, provided all factors are the same.