2.

1 Transforming farmers’ lives in Philippines

In the Philippines, Bt corn was engineered to be immune to the Asian maize borer,
Ostrinia furnacalis, one of the most damaging maize pests in the world. The crop also provides
vulnerable maize farmers everywhere with a realistic and ecologically friendly alternative to
improve their yields and reduce the use of pesticides, while improving their health and
livelihoods and alleviating poverty (Nkechi I., 2019).

Paraluman (2016), who shared his story with an audience at the United Nations Biodiversity
Conference last November, said that his life had been transformed by rising Bt maize. BT maize
was marketed in December 2003 and I was the first farmer to grow it. I was so surprised the
first time I planted Bt corn, that I saw no maize borer in the seven hectares I planted, he
recalled. He said the introduction of Bt technology made the Philippines self-sufficient in
growing maize. The nation no longer imports maize and, because they have surpluses, the
farmers are now preparing to export the grain (Nkechi I., 2019).

Dr. Rhodora Aldemita (2018), director of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-
Biotech Applications' Global Information Center on Seed Biotechnology at ISAAA, said farmers in
the Philippines had previously registered a loss of 30 to 50 percent to the maize borer, which
destroyed the production of maize in the country (Nkeichi I., 2019). "The problem with maize
borers in the Philippines had a devastating effect on the production of maize," Aldemita (2018)
said. In the Philippines, more than 400,000 farmers are now cultivating Bt maize, Paraluman
(2016) said (Nkeichi I., 2019).

Conclusions

The Filipino farmers lives has altered greatly from 30 to 50 percent loss of borer, now 400,000
estimated numbers of maize borers have a regular work in the field. Ever since the Genetically
Modified Crops is implemented, positive changes in the lives people and industry has been
observed in the increase of rate of the country’s economy. The feedback was highly contributed
to create and study more to produce such a unique type of genetically modified crops.

2.2 Early Manifested Issues

If the proliferation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) continues to grow, the

public interest in the protection of these products has risen. In general, questions center on
how the GMO can influence the environment or how it can affect the user. The risk of GMOs
having a negative effect on human health is one particular issue. On the first implementation,
there were prior issues that gave doubt to the public’s trust (Norris M. L., 2015).

First health-related issues is allergy, it is likely that transgenic proteins expressed in GM foods
induce food allergies. Long-term studies to determine the protection of GM foods are needed.
Any GM crops have been shown to decrease some plants' nutritional content. The use of viral
DNA in GM crops is causing controversy. Some scientists claim that this highly contagious
promoter has not been proven to induce disease in humans, even at high doses. Along with the
new mutation, the widely used Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter is presented (Altieri M.
A., 2010). This promoter is what the newly implanted gene is currently turning on. If this
promoter may be passed horizontally and induce illness is not understood. Some GM soybeans
have been found to contain less isoflavones and other major phytoestrogens than unaltered
soybeans. This is a field that needs further exploration as many GM crops are consumed in raw
form (Kipp-Sinanis E., 2011).

Environmental Risks, it is important to inform persons responsible for storing, shipping and
processing GM grain about the need to keep GM grain apart from other stocks. In corn
approved for animal feed only the Cry9C gene was added. GM maize, referred to as Starlink
corn, was quickly discovered in the stock of human corn. U.S. federal investigators detected
Starlink GM corn in 10 percent of the corn examined in less than one year. Pollen from GM corn
was observed in 2002 to have pollinated corn plants growing near the experimental site in
fields. In this scenario, GM corn was designed to create a vaccine for pigs. When they refused
to comply on the order to eradicate all maize crops from nearby locations, the U.S. Department
of Agriculture fined ProdiGene, the agricultural technology corporation responsible for this
medicinal corn (Jamal and Lusk, 2005).

The emergence of insect strains gaining resistance to insecticides developed by the GM plant is
another possible environmental concern as the insect species are subjected to the proteins on a
more regular basis than would be the case in nature (R.C Das, 2001). As Roundup is constantly
over-applied so there is no chance of harm to the resistant cash crop, this is also the case with
Roundup Ready crops. More than 500 insects and mites are resistant to insecticides currently in
use, according to the World watch Institute, and over 200 plant species are resistant to
herbicides, up from fewer than 40 species in 1980. The survivals of the changed gene in the
ecosystem after extracting GMOs, the stability of the gene, and the decrease in the spectrum of
other species, including the lack of biodiversity, are other environmental consequences (Mustafa
Jamal, 2005).

Political Issues, USDA (1998) stated that in some situations, GM crops did not increase crop
yields substantially. GM crop critics contend that companies are using GM crops as a means of
centralizing control over food production and delivery. Famers from the Third World have joined
forces to combat what they consider to be a violation of their intellectual property rights.
Researchers looked at the acceptance of genetically modified food in Europe and the U.S. in
2000 and found that GMOs in European countries were far more contentious and had much
more interest in the U.S., the biggest exporter of GMOs in the world. Indian farmers have
developed 200,000 varieties of rice in some countries such as India, by selective breeding over
time, including the popular Basmati rice (Lane & Gardens, 2020). Peter Bergen writes that the
use of Terminator inventions and trademarks prohibits the sharing of information and
information and thus effectively limits what was once a widely shared product. The right to
manage their seed stocks is no longer constitutionally held by farmers, he argues. Says Bergen.
Seeds that were basically free are now part of costly GM bundles, especially when it is
important to buy Roundup Ready seeds in conjunction with the herbicide Roundup Ready
(Mailhol C., 2009).

A list of protections to be placed on imported GMOs has been created by the European Union.
The US and five exporting countries rejected the plan, citing that it was too expensive and free
trade interfered with it. This disparity in GMO acceptance tends to be directly linked to the
quantity of press received by GM goods and the trust put in the regulatory agencies. In Europe,
foreign regulatory bodies such as the U.N. had more funding. And the World Organization of
Medicine (Lane & Gardens, 2020). The bulk of GM commodity literature in the United States is
published in scientific journals written by and read only by a single target audience. For support
for the WHO and the USDA together the majority of survey respondents gathering support were
34 percent. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety aims to ensure that GMOs are treated, shipped
and used safely (Artemis Dona, 2013).

Conclusion

It has been hard for the agricultural sector to experience this kind of outcome, especially for a
newly implemented biotechnology that assumes to solve the economic problem of every
country. The issues were not expected to emerge early and to create something seriously worse
issues. The public felt like they were threaten as the result became a health-related situation.
The sequel was widely felt everywhere, hence, there were some arguments between countries
when it comes to exporting and importing of products, especially for those who highly affected
of the aftermath. The rate of trust of other countries toward these genetically modified
organisms has been crashed on the ground, knowing the fact that this biotechnology has
something more than side effects; they will no longer have the confidence to consign the
citizen’s sake over this. For some nations, they were able to avoid and created remedies for the
possible outcome of the GMO, even if there was a remedy, there was still problem in acquiring
it due to financial reason. The agricultural world was truly in confusion, the assurance of the
return of normal life was still in question.

2.3 Challenges in Modern Commercial Agriculture

Agriculture has been rated at an estimated US$ 3.2 trillion worldwide and accounts for a
significant share of GDP and employment in emerging and underdeveloped countries.5 For
example, agriculture contributes just 1.4% to GDP and 1.62% to US labor compared to South
Asian areas, where it contributes 18.6% to GDP and 50% to GDP (Taylor & Francis, 2017).

Explosive Population Growth of Farmers , the Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that
by 2050 the global population will grow to nearly 9.7 billion-a rise of almost 50 percent from
2013-and further to a projected 11 billion by 2100. In the future, existing farming activities
alone will not be able to feed the world population and alleviate starvation and poverty on a
global scale. Indeed the FAO also predicts that 653 million people will already be
undernourished in 2030, amid a substantial decline in global hunger (Taylor & Francis, 2017).
In comparison, (Ray et al., 2015) and other reports indicate that the top four global crops
(soybean, corn, wheat and rice) are growing at 1.0 percent, 0.9 percent, 1.6 percent and 1.3
percent annually, respectively, roughly 42 percent, 38 percent, 67 percent and 55 percent lower
than the needed growth rate (2.4 percent/year) to support the global population in 2050.
Compounded with other concerns such as increased dietary conditions in the burgeoning lower-
middle class and estimated arable land losses (from 0.242 ha/person in 2016 to 0.18 ha/person
in 2050)2 due to depletion and increasing urbanization, the exponential rise in world population
demand for food resources would increase (Penalba & Elazegui, 2014).

Pests and Crop Diseases, the annual loss of crops to pests alone accounts for 20-40% of the
global loss of crops. Tackling seed pests and epidemics and exotic insect issues costs the
farming industry about $290 mn annually in terms of economic benefit. The Tropical Race-4
mutation, a single pathogen clone of the fungus, has devastated the global banana industry
since the early-mid-1990s. Transboundary crop and pest diseases have large impacts on
farmers in terms of natural, social and economic aspects (Tabashnik B. et al., 2013). According
to the Global Crop Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Crop Biodiversity Study 2015 by the World
Bank, they endanger food security for having a low class set of inhuman security. The study
reports that the occurrence of crop disease and pests is rising in the direction of the pole (2.7
km per year and will continue to increase. The number of incidences of illnesses has been
predicted to rise (Ruchir Raman, 2017).

Burden on Natural Resources, despite overall agricultural productivity, excessive

competitiveness has increased due to urbanization, demographic development, industrialization
and climate change; the FAO's 2050 forecasts indicate expected natural resource shortage for
crop treatment. 80% of deforestation globally has been caused by deforestation for agricultural
purposes (Agricultural expansion accounted for reductions of 7 million hectares per annum of
natural forests between 2000 and 2010 in tropical and subtropical areas where deforestation is
still widespread (Taylor & Francis, 2017). In addition, water withdrawals for irrigation
accounted for 70 percent of all withdrawals, severely depleting natural water supplies in many
countries. In low rainfall areas, such as the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, where
agricultural water accounts for 80-90 percent of the overall water withdrawal, this has been
found in particular. Such patterns are projected to persist well into the 21st century and thereby
raise the burden of consumption of natural resources globally (Ruchir Raman, 2017).

There are solutions provided by GM Crops, in mitigating the above global agricultural
challenges, GM crops have been largely successful thus offering numerous advantages to
growers worldwide. In global farm income benefits alone, they produced $117.6 billion over 17
years from 1996-2013. In 2010–2012, global annual net profits rose by 34.3 percent. In
addition, GM crops decreased pesticide (active ingredient) use by 37 percent and environmental
impact (insecticide and herbicide use by 18 percent, thus raising global yield by 22 percent.
More than 300 million acres of conventional crops would have been required to meet the same
yield requirements, which would have further exacerbated existing environmental and socio-
economic problems in agriculture (Ruchir Raman, 2017). Cotton has acted as an important raw
material for fiber and textiles in India and plays a crucial role in its industrial and agricultural
economy (Jain B., 2017). Canola is cultivated as a break crop in Australia, offering a lucrative
option to farmers along with rotational benefits from continuous cereal crop phases and their
associated mechanisms of weed/pest. After studies found that its environmental effect was less
than half (43 percent) of thiazine-tolerant canola varieties, it was approved by OGTR21, and
remains the only OGTR-approved GM canola to date.

Conclusion

The modern generation created a lot of engines and ideas to lessen the burden of the work in
agriculture. It was indeed a great help for the industry, but amidst of having a productive labor,
the barriers suddenly started to collapse and the challenges begin to arise in a broad part of the
industry. The worldwide consumers are assuming that in the future there will be a scarcity for
products. Hence, there was an initiation in the industry to find a solution and it was a great help
for the first beneficiaries. The industry is still in temporary state of recovering from the previous
outcomes, but in anticipating for the solution is still on focus, for the preparation in prospect
scarcity.

2.4 GMO as the fastest adopted crop technology in the history of modern
agriculture

Clive James has made it the mission of his life to put the GM crop knowledge in its
proper context. As well as special reports on individual GM crops, he has issued annual reports
on the global state of commercialized GM crops (Khush, G.S., 2012).

It became apparent after the establishment of ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition
of Agri-biotech Applications) in 1990 that society's lack of understanding of the potential of
modern innovative genetically modified (GM) crops was a significant restriction to their
adoption, compounded by the lack of awareness of the potential of new, innovative genetically
modified (GM) crops. Comprehensive, well-resourced propaganda efforts by technology critics
about GM crops. His 34th article on this topic is his publication, Global Status of Commercialized
Biotech/ GM crops: 2011[1] (Khush, G.S., 2012).

More than 20 years ago, Clive James founded the International Service for the Acquisition of
Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) with the goal of forming innovative partnerships to encourage
the transfer of crop biotechnology applications from developed countries, particularly from the
private sector, to the benefit of small resource-poor farmers in developing countries who
represent a significant segment of the economy (Khush, G.S., 2012). In the global production of
genetically modified (GM) crops, smallholder farmers in developing nations are fueling a steady
growth. Last year the total world acreage planted in GM crops rose by 3%-4.7 million hectares-
to a new 189.8 million hectares. In GM crop acreage, 19 developing nations currently constitute
53 percent of the world's acreage. Biotech crops have also helped farmers slash their use of
insecticides and herbicides, thus reducing the effects of their use on the environment (Conrow
J., 2018).

In 2011, 160 million hectares of GM crops were cultivated in 29 countries. If Golden Rice was
not a 'genetically modified' (GE), it would have completed the production and registration of
varieties by 2002. This suggests that the most quickly embraced seed technology in the history
of industrial agriculture is GM/Biotech crops (McGloughlin, M., 2009).

In spite of the disinformation campaigns mentioned above the land area planted for GM crops
has increased steadily. To that purpose, he travels all over the world gathering (as he calls
them) information on biotech crops and delivering seminars. Extensive evidence provided in the
Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM crops: 2011 includes the fact that 1.7 million
hectares of GM crops were cultivated for the first time in the United States in 1996. This
disparity in time between the conventional production of varieties and that of more than 10
years of a GMO (genetically modified organism)-based variety is attributed to little more than
normal regulatory requirements. Intellectual property rights issues associated with basic science
were addressed within half a year. The private sector's commodity optimization was donated to
the Charitable Initiative Golden Rice. GM/Biotech crops alone helped minimize CO2 emissions by
19 billion kg in 2010 (equivalent to about nine million vehicles being driven off the road)
(Khush, G.S., 2012).

Conclusion

The world’s one of the biggest industries has been on a huge break, as its market started to
rise once again through Biotech/GM crops. In just a short year disparity, there is an implausible
grow even in those third world countries who had such a high drought in market of crops. The
increase of rates in economy were not just became possible with the use of GM products, it also
raise due to the practice of not using chemicals for exterminating the pests in the field. Thus, it
helps to reduce the effects to environment as well. The word was rapidly spread worldwide with
a positive result. Hence, Biotech/GM crops became the fastest adopted crop technology in
modern agriculture from the fact that it supports the numbers of farmers with low social class
as they were described into the high profile.

2.5 Philippines Approves GMO Rice to Fight Malnutrition

Regulators in the Philippines have accepted a breed of rice genetically modified to

combat vitamin A deficiency. According to the World Health Organization, proponents believe
"Golden Rice" could cure a condition that kills up to 250,000 kids worldwide per year and blinds
twice that many. It is the first genetically modified organism (GMO) intended to receive a green
light from food safety authorities in the developed world to combat a public health epidemic.
Throughout its growth, Golden Rice has faced robust opposition from GMO advocates, citing
safety issues and other problems. In 2013, in the Philippines, demonstrators burned research
areas. The Bureau of Plant Industry of the Philippine Department of Agriculture declared
Wednesday that golden rice is as healthy as traditional rice. The crop has already been cleared
of safety concerns by authorities in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
(Baragona, S., 2019).

Adrian Dubock, Executive Secretary of the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board, a non-profit
working to take the crop from the laboratory to the ground, said that it feels absolutely
tremendous" to achieve this stage after 20 years of growth. Two inserted chromosomes, one
from maize and one from a soil bacterium, render rice golden. Under their control, rice grains
develop beta carotene, the precursor of vitamin A that makes orange carrots and sweet
potatoes. A third bacterial gene acts as a marker that can be traced. According to the
Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute, which is growing the crop, vitamin A
deficiency among children has risen in the Philippines from 15.2 percent in 2008 to 20.4 percent
in 2013, despite a national supplement scheme. Golden Rice could provide up to half of the
everyday needs of a small child, IRRI says (Baragona, S., 2019). 100 grams of uncooked
Golden Rice will supply up to 57 percent of the approximate average requirement (EAR) for
vitamin A in pre-school children and 38-47 percent of the EAR for pregnant and lactating
women. We presented the cDNA coding for phytoene synthase (psy) and lycopene b-cyclase (b-
lcy) from both Narcissus pseudonarcissus and both under the guidance of the endosperm-
particular glutelin promoter along with a bacterial phytoene desaturase (crtI, from Erwinia
uredovora un un lcy) to obtain a functioning pro-vitamin A (beta-carotene) biosynthetic
pathway in rice endosperm in a solitary, combined shift exercise. This blend covers the
specifications for beta-carotene union and was acquired in the T0-age, as trusted, yellow beta-
carotene-bearing rice endosperm (Shabaz U. et al., 2020).

Conclusion

Vitamin A is very important in a human body to deal with several activities in life. The
Philippines as one of the developing countries that experience such a huge vitamin deficiency
that leads to malnutrition. The approval of GM rice seems to be a hope for the country to fight
the major public health problem, whereas the Golden Rice has seems not possessed the ability
to combat the vitamin deficiency, but the people will just rely on it as their source of energy.
Yet, the Golden Rice proves its capacity to fight the vitamin deficiency through the study
worldwide with its high unexpected positive result. The country has finally the confidence to
fight its major health-related problem after longing for a healthy lifestyle.