Bt corn much better than ordinary yellow hybrid corn

By Sosimo Ma. Pablico

Small corn farmers have a lot of good reasons for adopting YieldGard, the first Bt corn variety introduced in the Philippines by Monsanto, a multi-national company, according to international agricultural economist and policy consultant Dr. Leonardo A. Gonzales.

 After monitoring and evaluating the socio-economic impact of the Bt corn YieldGard, Dr. Gonzales said his findings clearly show that small farmers adopt this variety due to higher yields, cost efficiency, profitability, potential to cover household’s poverty thresholds, global competitiveness, and return on investment [ROI].

The study covered four major corn producing provinces – Isabela, Camarines Sur, Bukidnon, and South Cotabato.  It was conducted in four cropping seasons from 2003 to 2005.

The favorable socio-economic impacts of YieldGard on small corn producers in the Philippines are positive indicators that the technology will continue to be adopted by farmers in the future.

On the average, the ROI for YieldGard was higher than ordinary yellow hybrid corn by 33 percent.

The study showed that despite its relatively higher seed cost [6 percent higher], YieldGard had a higher contribution to ROI than ordinary yellow hybrid corn by 10 percent.  The contribution of YieldGard seed to ROI was 28 percent, while that of non-Bt hybrid corn was only 18 percent.

In his analysis, Dr. Gonzales noted that the higher ROIs of YieldGard were driven by  its higher yield compared to ordinary yellow hybrid corn.  On the average, the yield of YieldGard in the four provinces in crop year 2004-2005 was 829 to 831 kg/ha [kilograms per hectare] higher than non-Bt corn.  Likewise, the income derived from Bt corn was P0.20 to P1.22/kg higher than from non-Bt hybrid corn.

Gonzales said that because of YieldGard’s higher yield than ordinary yellow hybrid corn, the users of YieldGard technology are more cost efficient, resulting in higher net farm incomes, which would eventually lead to higher subsistence level carrying capacity.  This means that more farmers using YieldGard corn were able tocover the family poverty threshold.

The higher yield performance of YieldGard is due to its capacity as a genetically modified plant to resist the Asiatic corn borer because of the presence of the Bacillus thuringiensis gene.

The yield performance of YieldGard over ordinary yellow hybrid corn is accentuated with Asiatic corn borer [ACB] infestation.  Thus, the heavier the damages caused by ACB, the better would be the yield and economic performance of YieldGard over non-Bt hybrid corn. 

“The economics of the Bt corn technology is centered on the presence of ACB infestation,” Gonzales said.  “Under ordinary circumstances when there are no ACB infestations, YieldGard does not have a distinct competitive advantage over an ordinary hybrid corn of the same genetic background.  The yield performance of YieldGard over an ordinary hybrid is therefore accentuated with the ACB infestation reflected in percent yield losses.”

South Cotabato, the province with the highest yield losses [12 to 30 percent] due to ACB infestation, also had the highest yield, farm cost efficiency, and net farm income over ordinary hybrid corn in the 2005 dry season.

In contrast, in Bukidnon where the ACB incidence was low [less than 1 percent to 6.4 percent], the performance of YieldGard over the ordinary hybrid corn was also the lowest.

Gonzales said, however, that although the study showed the superiority of YieldGard over non-Bt corn, the vast socio-economic potential impacts of the Bt technology have yet to be optimized.  He pointed out that a large percentage of Bt corn users have not yet produced yields greater than 4.0 mt/ha. 

This implies that farmers have not carefully and diligently followed the package of technology requirements of YieldGard.  Thus, here is a need for stronger extension services between the generators of the technology and the farmers, and between extension agents of local government units and the corn farmers in the area.  

Alternative financing schemes are also needed to ensure that small farmers adopting the genetically modified Bt corn, particularly the YieldGard technology, will optimize their use of inputs as required by the package of technology.

Gonzales added while adoption of a new technology such as YieldGard is a good start, it is not sufficient to ensure sustained productivity.  He said: “Public investments in farm-to-market roads, extension services, postharvest facilities, and value-added processing are justifiable with the strong linkage of corn with the livestock industry and its potential linkage with the biofuels industry. Public investments in public goods within the corn supply value chain will also induce private sector investments along the same chain.”

He further said that since the 5-year commercial life of YieldGard has expired last December 3, 2007, it is timely for the Bureau of Plant Industry and the generators of GM technologies to develop a mutually acceptable set of socio-economic impact indicators, and standardize the methodologies to generate them.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/harvest-time/ Readers may reach columnist at spablico@yahoo.com . For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)