The proposed commercial production of genetically manufactured (GM) papaya in the Philippines will be targeted only for the domestic market in a bid to revive papaya plantations devastated by the ringspot virus in Luzon, said Dr. Randy Hautea of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications.

This, as environmental group Greenpeace sounded off opposition to the impending commercialization of GM papaya in the Philippines, saying that GM papaya has limited export potentials since countries like Japan and Germany are not inclined to import genetically altered tropical fruits.

Dr. Hautea said in an interview that the planned commercial production of GM papaya in the Philippines will focus primarily on meeting local demand. "The GM papaya being field-tested at this time is principally for the local needs. The export market is only secondary," said Dr. Hautea.

In a press conference yesterday, environmental group Greenpeace opposed moves to commercialize genetically manufactured papaya, saying the country stands to lose its papaya export market in countries like Germany and Japan which reject such altered crops. "If GM papaya is commercialized in the country, our farmers will not only be faced with the immediate loss of major export markets which reject genetically modified organisms (GMO), the added uncontrollable threat of GM contamination on conventional papaya plants will be a serious problem that will hound farmers for years to come," said Daniel Ocampo, Greenpeace genetic engineering campaigner.

But Dr. Hautea said that "their [Greenpeace] contention is erroneous because that assumes that the Philippines only offer one product. We can serve both markets. If there is demand for non-GMO in other countries then we will supply that."

Dr. Hautea explained that the current application for field testings for GM papaya at the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines is specifically geared to revive the papaya industry in Southern Tagalog and Bicol. These areas, he said, used to be major papaya producers before their fields were devastated by the ringspot virus in the early 1980s.

He noted, Mindanao-based papayas will still be largely non-GMO since the commercialization of GM papayas will mostly be directed in Luzon and Visayas where the old devastated plantations are located.

Besides, Dr. Hautea added, the country's papaya exports account for less than 10% of the country's total papaya production. The main focus of the initiatives towards producing GM papaya, he said, is to serve the larger domestic need and not to export. "The highest market is for local needs. Only less than 10% of our papayas are exported," said Dr. Hautea.

Data from the Agriculture department's Bureau of Agricultural Statistics and the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service show that the country's total papaya production for 2005 totaled 146,628 metric tons (or 146,628,000 kilograms). Of this, only 4.1 million kilograms are exported to countries like Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.