Contrary to hype, GMOs a nuisance

In his June 23 column, Neal Cruz opined how biotechnology helps farmers in fighting off pests like the cocolisap (coconut scale insects), and ultimately contributes to Philippine agriculture by producing genetically modified crops resistant to pests. Greenpeace would like to offer an alternative view on the matter.

The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) has pushed for the use of chemical pesticides like neonicotinoids to address the cocolisap problem. Neonicotinoids threaten not only our coconut industry, they also expose our environment and health to risks. Some neonicotinoid pesticides in the market today are even up to 7,000  times more toxic to bees and other insects than the widely known dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), a pesticide (used to combat the malaria mosquito) so toxic it was banned in the 1990s.

As early as March 2012, the PCA started addressing the cocolisap problem with mechanical measures and by spraying of water with detergent and using biological control. It even cautioned against the use of chemical pesticides because they also affect the natural enemies of cocolisap and other pests. The PCA’s recent advice, therefore, baffles those who support organic and ecological agriculture like the use of diversity, biological control and other nonchemical-based methods to control crop pests.

Yes, there are ecological alternatives and working solutions to combat crop pests. Our farmers have known these for years, which is why the development and use of GMOs, particularly the Bacillus Thuringenesis (Bt) gene, have no place in Philippine agriculture.

While GMO proponents keep promoting Bt corn and Bt eggplant as pesticide-free solutions, they fail to mention that these crops are registered with the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority as a pesticidal/pesticide-producing plant. Why? Because the Bt gene in these GMOs is very different from the naturally existing Bt toxin used as foliar spray, and it poses risks to nontarget insects and other organisms. (A quick search online will reveal that companies that sell toxic agrochemicals also develop and promote GMOs.)

In fact, there are studies that chemical use in GMO crops is actually increasing, resulting in additional costs to farmers. And as the companies have patented these genes, GMO seeds will ensure that these companies will be in total control of what we will eat. They will prevent farmers from producing their own food and from developing varieties that are  pest-resistant and suited to a changing climate and local conditions.

Planting GMOs also makes non-GMO crops even more susceptible to contamination. When this happens, farmers and consumers will be left with little alternatives and food production will be more risky and harmful to our ecology and people.

GMOs, contrary to all the hype that it is a modern technology, are a nuisance, like pests. They distract and offer the wrong solution to current and future agricultural problems of the country and the world.

—DANIEL OCAMPO,

daniel.ocampo@greenpeace.org