THE Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) spearheads the National Biotechnology Week (NBW) 2015 that will be held from November 23 to 28 at SM Dasmariñas, Cavite.
NBW 2015, with the theme “Bioteknolohiya: Kaagapay ng Mamamayan sa Pambansang Kaunlaran,” will feature an exhibit and fora that will be open to the public. It has the slogan “Angat Tayo sa Bioteknolohiya!”
NBW is an annual celebration that kicked off in 2005 and was institutionalized in 2007, by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 1414. The event serves as a venue for government agencies, academic communities, and private institutions to create awareness about the role of biotechnology in food production and security.
In the past year biotechnology has helped about 415,000 small, resource-poor Filipino farmers and families by planting biotech corn. About 813,000 hectares of biotech corn has been grown in the country as of 2014, a 5-percent increase from 2013, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). Moreover, the Philippines is proving to be a vital biotech corn grower, ranking 12th worldwide.
The biotech fora will involve DOST-PCAARRD, the Southeast Regional Center for Agriculture for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) Biotechnology Information Center and the ISAAA; National Academy of Science and Technology; Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines Los Baños; the Department of Health, National Research Council of the Philippines and the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development; the Department of Agriculture (DA); Philippine Council for Health Research and the Development and the Food and Nutrition Research Institute; the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); the Department of Agriculture Biotech Project Implementation Unit, and the Philippine Science High School System.
Rose Anne K. Mananghaya/S&T Media Service
