Eggplant is considered to be the top vegetable crop of the Philippines. It is also the 16th most highly-consumed Filipino crop.
However, statistics showed that there is a low profit to cost ratio per hectare for the eggplant production in the country. This means that a large fraction of the cost is still allocated to pesticides, necessitated by the high incidence insect pests like the eggplant fruit and shoot borer (EFSB) and the leafhopper.
To boost the income of farmers, a project funded and monitored by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology will develop improved eggplant varieties with increased resistance against insect pests, specifically EFSB and leafhopper.
The five-year project, titled “Development of Improved Eggplant Varieties with New Plant Defense Genes for Multiple Insect Resistance Using Innovative Technologies” will use genomics, IT-based phenotyping platforms, molecular marker technologies, and new breeding techniques.
According to an article on panaynews.net, the ultimate goal of the project is to increase the income of eggplant farmers through higher yield, lower input costs, and improved product quality.