New Book Features Potential Socioeconomic Impacts of Bt Eggplant in PH

The book Socioeconomic Impacts of Bt Eggplant: Ex-ante Case Studies in the Philippines shares the findings of ex-ante studies on the market prospects and potential economic, health, and environmental impacts of the insect resistant Bt eggplant in the Philippines. The book featured studies on pesticide use, costs and returns of conventional eggplant production, and supply chains in eggplant marketing in top eggplant-producing provinces in the country. Among the findings show that a Bt eggplant farm could gain higher net farm income than a conventional one because of increase marketable yield and less insecticide and labor costs. Adoption of the said crop could also provide important health and environmental benefits because of reduced environmental impacts of pesticides. Dr. Randy A. Hautea, ISAAA Global Coordinator and SEAsia Center Director, said that the book helps define the focus of the Bt eggplant research in the country in terms of its potential impact and welfare benefits.

The publication was launched by ISAAA, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), and Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII) during the Social and Economic Dimensions of Biotech Crop Adoption: Book Launch and Media Conference on 6 February 2014 at Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati City, Philippines.

Also launched in the event were the monographs Adoption and Uptake Pathways of GM/Biotech Crops by Small-scale, Resource-Poor Filipino Farmers and Cadres of Change: Transforming Biotech Farmers in China, India, and the Philippines which captured how biotech crops positively changed the lives of small farmers in the three countries, and the highlights the findings of the research project "Adoption and Uptake Pathways of Biotech Crops by Small-scale Resource-poor Asian Farmers: Comparative Studies in China, India, and the Philippines" funded by the John Templeton Foundation and led by Dr. Randy Hautea and Dr. Mariechel Navarro, Director of the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology of ISAAA.

For more information about the publications or biotechnology in the Philippines, visit SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center's website www.bic.searca.org or send an e-mail to bic@agri.searca.org.