Capacity Building Workshop Series on GM Crops for Philippine Stakeholders

To facilitate the appreciation and understanding by stakeholders of Philippine public-sector developed genetically modified crops, a series of capacity building workshops are being organized and facilitated through multi-sectoral involvement.The workshops focus on the papaya ringspot virus-resistant (PRSV-R) papaya and fruit and shoot borer-resistant (FSB-R) eggplant which are being developed by scientists at  the University of the Philippines Los Banos-Institute of Plant Breeding (UPLB-IPB).

These collaborative activities are joint undertakings of  several agencies like the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development, the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, Program for Biosafety Systems,  and SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center.  

The activities include a  consultative workshop for potential collaborators of multilocation field trials, a food safety and risk communication workshop  for those involved in the product development and delivery of the said products; and risk management and social marketing workshops for field trial cooperators and regulators.

Additional information on these workshops can be provided by emailing Sonny Tababa of the SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center at spt@agri.searca.org.