GMO eggplant is ‘green’

A new eggplant whose gene has been modified to resist a most destructive worm is environment-friendly, scientists said.

It's the Bacillus thuriengensis (Bt) eggplant, a gene-modified crop that contains the Bt bacterium that is toxic to the fruit and shoot borer worm, a major pest that can destroy over half of the eggplant crop. 

The Bt eggplant's resistance to the worm is expected to lessen the spraying by farmers of pesticides that kill the worm.

A Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) study concludes that Bt eggplant reduces pesticides use by 48 percent. It raises a farmer’s income by about P50,000 per hectare as production costs are cut by 16 percent. Much of that would be due to the decreased use of pesticides and the manpower and time to spray pesticides.

Over- and mis-application of pesticides to control the eggplant fruit and shoot borer is harmful to humans and to the environment.

In contrast, the Bt protein found in Bt eggplant does not persist in the environment, said Dr. Antonio C. Laurena, a research professor at the Institute of Plant Breeding, University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). 

There is no negative impact on non-target organisms such as insects either, said Mario V. Navasero of the National Crop Protection Center.

They were speaking at UPLB in a public dialogue on Bt eggplant between scientists and farmers.

According to Dr. Emiliana Bernardo, a member of the Department of Agriculture’s Scientific and Technical Review Panel which reviews and assesses the safety of gene modified foods such as Bt eggplant and Bt corn, the current methods used by growers of conventional eggplant in controlling the fruit and shoot borer are unacceptable.

Many eggplant farmers spray chemical insecticides every other day, or up to 80 times per growing season, said Bernardo, an entomologist or insect scientist.

Insecticide residues have been found in 20 percent of conventional eggplant samples, said Dr. Jinky Leilani Lu, Research Professor, National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila. She has conducted a study in Sta. Maria, Pangasinan, which showed that 100 percent of farmers surveyed were not using protective clothing while mixing and spraying pesticides.

Sixty percent of these farmers were affected by spills due to leaking sprayers or while spraying; 50 percent were affected while mixing pesticides; 90 percent of exposure was on the skin while 70 percent were exposed through breathing.

Skin itchiness was the most frequent complaints by 80 percent of farmers Lu interviewed. Other ill-effects included muscle pain (70 percent); headache (50 percent); coughing (40 percent); burning sensation on the skin (10 percent); blurred vision (10 percent); and nausea (10 percent). (SciencePhilippines)