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ITY OF SAN FERNANDO—If there is anything that the people in the biotechnology sector have learned about the government process and public acceptance of genetically modified (GM) crops, is the fact that whole thing is never easy.

If the Bt corn, so far the only successfully commercialized GM crop in the country, had gone through the terrible hardship before being hailed as the most successful GM crop to have solely contributed to the corn sufficiency of the country today, so too must be the fate of Bt eggplant.

Efforts for Bt eggplant were almost shelved. But fortunately just last year, the Supreme Court reversed its decision that stopped the field testing of the controversial Bt eggplants and issuance of new permits on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

This development is seen by those in the GM crop sector as a spark of hope for Bt eggplant and its future.

In 2010, the Department of Agriculture has started multi-location field testing of GM eggplant known as the Philippine Fruit and Shoot Borer (FSB) resistant eggplants (Bt brinjal) or Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant.

FSB insects are the pests that cause so much damage to eggplants. FSB or Leucinodes orbonalis is a moth species prevalent in Asia and Africa. The moths’ larvae feed inside the eggplant fruits making it unmarketable and unfit for human consumption and can cause some 50-75 percent loss of fruits.

Bt eggplant’s resistance to the FSB insect meant it is low impact on farming as farmers with Bt eggplants would almost need not use pesticide. It could be noted that non-Bt eggplant requires 60 to 80 applications of synthetic chemicals.

Bt, a common soil bacterium, produces a protein that paralyzes the larvae of some harmful insects, including EFSB.

“When ingested by the larvae of the target insect, the Bt protein is activated in the gut’s alkaline condition and punctures the mid-gut leaving the insect unable to eat. The insect dies within a few days,” according to the