The Philippines is now in the forefront of using biotechnology as an alternative means to ensure food security and alleviate poverty, and women are playing a bigger role in its propagation.

According to Dr. Clive James, the visiting chair of the board of directors of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), 8.1 million farmers worldwide who benefited from biotechnology were subsistence farmers in the developing countries.

In the Philippines, some 50,000 subsistence farmers plant Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn which is resistant to the dreaded Asiatic corn borer.

James, who is an agricultural epidemiologist noted that in the Bt corn fields of the Philippines, the KwaZulu Natal province of South Africa, and the Xingjiang province of China, women farmers are reported to be a contributing factor in the propagation of biotech crops.

"Women produce 80 percent of the food, feed and fiber of South Africa," James said. "And in the Philippines, it is striking to know that that there are lots of women farmers now involved in the production of Bt corn - so women are playing a very important role here.'

James also cited the role of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in approving the use of biotechnology in the country. He said that Arroyo played a key role in making biotechnology a role model for other Asian countries to follow.

"I don't know what will happen if she had opposed the technology," James said. "More Filipinos will end up malnourished and the issue of poverty will remain a bigger problem in the years to come."

James said that there are several major benefits generated by biotechnology in the Philippines. It includes the increase in productivity where Bt corn farmers in the country got a 40 percent increase in yields or 8 times more than the 5 percent increase in Bt corn yields in the US.

James said, the global value of crop production from biotech crops in 2003 was US$44 billion. Added value was about US$4.5 billion.

He said another benefit that might be derived from biotechnology is the challenge of feeding the world of tomorrow by year 2050. He said that 90 percent of the world's population will be living in the developing countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa. He said that if nothing is done to prevent food security and global hunger, the world will face a bigger problem.

He said biotechnology can also help preserve bio-diversity and protect the environment - particularly in soil erosion. He also noted that scientists are now looking at the possibility of producing drought-tolerant biotech crops.

"Biotechnology has been proven safe and we have 10 years of experience in the technology and not a single death related to it has been reported," James said. "We have thousands of farmers attesting to its beneficial gains and not a single one of them have reported a loss of profit or loss of life."

In the 2004 annual report released by ISAAA, the Philippines was ranked no. 14 among mega-countries producing agricultural biotech products.