A biotech eggplant variety can now be cultivated commercially in the Philippines. Experts hope this which help reduce or preempt the use of pesticides by farmers while combating the dreaded eggplant plant and shoot borer.
The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI) has granted the biosafety permit for the commercial propagation of EFSB-resistant Bt Eggplant (Event EE-1) to the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).
According to John Albert Caraan, UPLB College of Agriculture and Food Science Institute of Plant Breeding Project Development officer, the regulatory approval came after strict and comprehensive biosafety evaluations conducted by the joint assessment group from the Competent National Authorities-Biosafety Committees and the certification of the Event EE-1 as a plant-incorporated protectant by the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, an agency under the Agriculture department.
Source: manilatimes.net
