Indonesia and Philippines Indonesia and Philippines Indonesia and Philippines Indonesia and Philippines Indonesia and Philippines AAAAApprpprpprpprpprooooovvvvveeeeeConfConfConfConfConfined ined ined ined ined TTTTTrials ofrials ofrials ofrials ofrials of Biotec Biotec Biotec Biotec Biotechnolohnolohnolohnolohnologggggy Cry Cry Cry Cry Cropsopsopsopsops

Two Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII)-supported biotech crops under development by publicresearch institutions in Indonesia and the Philippines have

recently been granted approvals for confined trial by theirrespective biosafety regulatory bodies. This is a significantaccomplishment in the effort of public sector institutions in thetwo countries to develop and commercialize safe, high-qualitybiotech crops that will impact on the lives of resource-poor farmers,people’s health, and the environment.PRSV-Resistant Papaya in the Philippines

The National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines(NCBP) approved the proposal for the conduct of the confinedtrial of the Papaya Ringspot Virus (PRSV) - resistant papaya duringits meeting on December 19, 2006. The confined trial will beundertaken in accordance with the procedures and conditions setby the NCBP. The confined trial of the PRSV-resistant papayaswill be conducted in NCBP-approved fenced/regulated-accessexperimental plots in the Institute of Plant Breeding at theUniversity of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna (IPB-UPLB).

IPB-UPLB supported by various partners (Department ofScience and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture,Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development,International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotechApplications, ABSPII) has developed advanced, purelines of highlypromising PRSV-resistant papayas. The PRSV-resistant papayais a papaya that is genetically engineered to express the coat protein(CP) gene taken from the Philippine strain of papaya ringspotvirus (Bulacan isolate). It is essential that IPB-UPLB’s PRSV-resistant papayas be evaluated further for their horticultural

The PRSV-Resistant Papaya still inside the contained trial. Insetare the PRSV-Resistant Papaya fruits. (Photos by TP Lawasand AMR Oropesa)

Newsletter of the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II

Southeast Asia

Vol. III No. 1 January 2007

AB SPII

performance and efficacy against PRSV infection.Papaya ranks among the top 7 in importance among the

commercial fruits in the Philippines. The papaya ringspot virushas practically wiped out the small-scale papaya industry in theisland of Luzon. The virus epidemic reduced production outputby as much as 80%. There is no effective conventionalmanagement and control measure against PRSV and allcommercial papaya varieties are susceptible to PRSV infection.This project will help ensure that small-scale papaya growers/farmers in key papaya-growing regions will recover from and/or

Continued on page 2

Continued on page 3

In this issue...

• BiotechConsultativeWorkshop forPRSV Papayaand FSBREggplant

• PhilippineProjects GainSupport fromUSAID Mission

• Visitors’ Corner

The ABSPII Advisory Board held its 4th annual meeting last October 23-25, 2006 at the Renaissance NewWorld Hotel in Makati City, Philippines. ABSPII-Southeast Asia served as host.

The meeting was attended by the ABSPII Board Members led by Hon. Sec. Estrella F. Alabastro(Chairperson), Drs. Nurul Alam, June Diana Blalock, Isi Siddiqui, Ronnie Coffman, Frank Shotkoski andDebbie Delmer (via SKYPE). USAID/EGAT was represented by Dr. Larry Beach, Technical Officer in chargeof ABSPII. Other participants included the ABSPII management team - Dr. KV Raman, Ms. Tammy Thomasand Ms. Tina Henry from ABSP II-Cornell University; Dr. K. Vijayaraghavan, and Dr. Gour Pada Das fromABSPII South Asia; and Dr. Desiree M. Hautea from Southeast Asia and consortium partner – Dr. Randy A.Hautea (ISAAA). Invited guests included the PBS coordinator for Southeast Asia – Dr. Reynaldo V. Ebora;principal scientists of the various PCPs - Dr. Swarup Chakrabarti (India-LBT potato) , Dr. Andrew Kiggundu(Uganda- Highland banana), Dr. Pablito Magdalita (Philippines- PRSV-R papaya), Dr. Josefina Narciso (Philippines-FSBR eggplant), Dr. Hayde F. Galvez (Philippines – MVR tomato); some members of Philippine regulatory bodiesand other ABSPII/EMERGE technical team members.

ABSPII ABSPII ABSPII ABSPII ABSPII AdAdAdAdAdvisorvisorvisorvisorvisory Meeting Held in Manilay Meeting Held in Manilay Meeting Held in Manilay Meeting Held in Manilay Meeting Held in Manila

2 VOL. III NO. 1

A two-day workshop entitled Consultative Workshop onSelected Philippine Crop Biotech Projects: The WayForward was held last December 12-13, 2006 at the

SEAMEO Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research inAgriculture (SEARCA),Los Baños, Laguna. Theworkshop was organized bythe BiotechnologyInformation Network (BIC)of SEARCA along with theUniversity of thePhilippines Los Baños(UPLB), the AgriculturalBiotechnology SupportProgram II (ABSPII), thePhilippine Council forAgriculture, Forestry andNatural ResourcesResearch and Development(PCARRD), and theInternational Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotechApplications (ISAAA).

The said workshop aimed to enhance the awareness andappreciation of crop biotech projects in the Philippines,particularly those supported by the ABSPII, as well as to addressthe potential issues concerning field trials of biotech crops. The38 participants comprised of members of the academe, agricultureofficers, local government units and farmer groups. The workshopalso helped forge cooperation and networking among theparticipants, and plan and create information, education, andcommunication (IEC) strategies to generate support for futurefield trials of crop biotechnology projects.

For two days, the participants engaged in several dynamic

Biotech Consultative Workshop for PRSV Papaya and FSBR Eggplant

Indonesia and Philippines Approve ConfinedTrials of Biotechnology Crops (from page 1)

activities which included group discussions, lectures and fora,interactive board games, and study visits to the biotech crop sitesin the Institute of Plant Breeding. The first day of the workshopconsisted of lectures on the status of the Philippine biotech crops,

biosafety, regulatory andlegal aspect of biotechcrops, social and economicimpacts, public outreach,and intellectual propertyrights (IPR). Resourcepersons of the workshopwere from the organizingagencies, MonsantoPhilippines, Inc., andgovernment agencies suchas Department ofAgriculture (DA)-Bureauof Plant Industry (BPI),Philippine Rice ResearchInstitute (PhilRice),

College of Economics and Management (CEM), UPLB, and theProgram for Biosafety System (PBS) for Southeast Asia. On thesecond day, the participants had the privilege to visit the containedtrials at the IPB-BL2 of greenhouse of Fruit Shoot Borer ResistantEggplant (FSBR Eggplant), and the Papaya Ringspot Virus-Resistant Papaya (PRSV Resistant Papaya) projects funded byABSP II, EMERGE, ISAAA and PCARRD. In the afternoon, theparticipants were divided into five sub-groups for groupdiscussions on possible areas of collaboration and public outreachstrategies.

The participants agreed that the field trials of crop biotechprojects need support and partnership with wider stakeholdergroups. (ZB Juliano)

Participants of the consultative workshop and study leaders for the FSBR Eggplant andPRSV Papaya. Among the participants from the private sector is Dr. Bliss A. Aday (seated,third from right), Research Manager of the Allied AgroTech Industries in Pangasinan,Philippines. (Photo by TP Lawas)

avoid severe economic losses from this devastating virus disease.Late Blight -Resistant (LBR) potato in Indonesia

Meanwhile in Indonesia, the conduct of the confined trials of the bio-engineered potato lines of Katahdin (SP904 and SP951) from University ofWisconsin was approved after getting the necessary permission from the Biosafetyand Food Safety Technical Team (BFSTT), Government of Indonesia. Theproposed trial is necessary to evaluate the bio-efficacy of SP904 and SP951 againstthe prevalent races of P. infestans under natural Indonesian field condition.

The SP904 and SP905 are biotech potato lines which contain the RB genefrom Solanum bulbocastanum, a wild relative of cultivated potato. The RB (RBgene from S. bulbocastanum) is a classical plant disease resistance gene encodinga receptor protein. The SP904 and SP905 were used as resistant parents in potatobreeding being undertaken by the Indonesian Vegetable Research Institute(IVEGRI); the cloned RB gene was used by Indonesian Center for Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Research andDevelopment (ICABIOGRAD) to directly transform Granola and Atlantic.

Availability of potato cultivars with durable resistance to late blight will curtail use of pesticides, save labor cost and createadditional potato production from better control and associated environmental benefits. (PM Magdalita, M Herman, VRG Lee, ZBJuliano and DM Hautea)

The LBR Potato plants inside the contained site in Indonesia.Inset are the harvested and tagged LBR potatoes placed inbags. (Photos from ABSPII Indonesia Office)

3

The Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII)-supported biotech crops in the Philippines are well on its wayinto the next stages of product development and

commercialization. USAID/Philippines has joined ABSPII and itspartners in the Philippines to provide support to meet the regulatoryrequirements for field trial and commercial release of FSBR eggplantand PRSV papaya. It is well-known that the costs of meeting regulatoryrequirements comprise the major expense in biotech crops productdevelopment, and regulation compliance can be daunting for mostpublic sector biotech products. USAID/Philippines financial assistanceis being provided through the Economic Modernization throughEfficient Reforms and Governance Enhancement (EMERGE) projectadministered by CARANA Corporation and through ISAAA(www.isaaa.org).

The damages caused by Fruit Shoot Borer and Papaya RingspotVirus (PRSV) to eggplant and papaya, respectively, present compellingcases for biotechnology intervention, Both crops rank high in economicimportance and is produced primarily by resource-limited farmers.Damage in each crop can result in up to 100% marketable yield loss.Current control measures rely heavily on a mixture of toxic chemicalswhich are hazardous, expensive and ineffective; other control measuresare also impractical. There are no commercially usable sources ofresistance.

ABSPII is supporting the Philippine initiative to develop commercialbio-engineered crops such as PRSV-resistant papaya and Fruit ShootBorer Resistant (FSBR) eggplant at the Institute of Plant Breeding,

FSBR Eggplant and PRSV-Resistant Papaya Projects in the PhilippinesGain Support from USAID/Philippine Mission

ABSPII ABSPII ABSPII ABSPII ABSPII AdAdAdAdAdvisorvisorvisorvisorvisory Meeting Heldy Meeting Heldy Meeting Heldy Meeting Heldy Meeting Heldin Manilain Manilain Manilain Manilain Manila (from page 1)

The first two days of the meeting consisted of open- and close-door sessions. The meeting started with opening remarks from Sec.Alabastro, Dr. Beach, and Dr. Shotkoski expressing welcome to allparticipants; and immediately followed by approval of the minutes oflast year’s meeting. Dr. Shotkoski reviewed the recommendationsmade by the board at last year’s meeting and reported on the followup by ABSPII. The Board expressed satisfaction with the follow-upand discussion ensued. The rest of the open session was spent onpresentations of updates of the various ABSPII product packages andcross-cutting activities by their respective coordinators/productmanagesrs/principal scientists. The close-door sessions were held afterthe presentations. The last day of the meeting was spent visiting theproposed site for the confined trial, and the on-going contained/GHtrials for PRSV papaya and FSBR eggplant of the Institute of PlantBreeding in the University of the Philippines Los Baños (IPB-UPLB). (JO Narciso/DM Hautea)

VOL. III NO. 1

University of the Philippines LosBanos (IPB-UPLB). IPB-UPLB andthe Philippine Council forAgriculture, Forestry and NaturalResources Research andDevelopment, Department ofScience and Technology (PCARRD-DOST) have developed highlypromising, advanced lines of PRSV-resistant bio-engineered papayas. Atpresent these papayas are undercontained greenhouse evaluation. In

the case of Bt or FSBR eggplant, the resistance gene from Mahyco’s Bteggplant was transferred to Philippine varieties and brought to IPB-UPLB through the assistance of ABSPII-South Asia and Mahyco. Furtherbackcrossing is currently underway at IPB-UPLB. It is essential thatthese advanced materials be grown in the field for necessary assessmentand evaluation of efficacy and variety performance, and assessed forbiosafety/food safety before they can be successfully deployed forcommercial use by farmers and consumers.

ABSPII and its partners aim to facilitate the efforts of a publicresearch institution in the Philippines to accelerate the commercializationof FSBR eggplant and PRSV papaya to increase profitability andproduction of these crops. This initiative will improve the lives ofresource-poor farmers, people’s health and the environment. (DMHautea)

The ABSPII Advisory Board together with the other participants of theABSP board meeting. Among them is Dr. Estrella F. Alabastro (frontrow, fifth from left) and Dr. Frank Shotkoski (right of Alabastro). (Photoby GC Ebron)

Southeast Asia OfficeDr. Desiree M. Hautea, Regional CoordinatorInstitute of Plant Breeding, University of the Philippines Los BañosCollege 4031 Laguna PhilippinesTelefax: +6349 5365140 • Email: absp2_sea@ipb-uplb.org.ph

US OfficeInternational Programs, 213 Rice Hall, Cornell UniversityIthaca, New York 14853 USATel.: +1 607 2556357 • Fax: +1 607 2558186 • Email: absp2@cornell.edu

ABSPII is a USAID-funded consortium of public and privatesector institutions that supports scientists, regulators, and thegeneral public in developing countries to make informeddecisions about agricultural biotechnology. Where demand exists,ABSPII focuses on the safe and effective development andcommercialization of bio-engineered crops as a complement totraditional and organic agricultural approaches. The project helpsboost food security, economic growth, nutrition, andenvironmental quality in East and West Africa, Indonesia, India,Bangladesh, and the Philippines.

The FSBR eggplant have gainedsupport from USAID/Philippines.(Photo by JO Narciso)

VISITORS’ CORNER VOL. III NO. 1

MAHYCO Scientists and Cornell University Professor Visit UPLBTwo principal scientists from the Maharastra Hybrid Seed Co.(MAHYCO), India came to visit the Institute of Plant Breeding in theUniversity of the Philippines Los Baños (IPB-UPLB) on November 7,2006. Dr. Bharat Char, a molecular biologist, and Dr. Srinivas Parimi, anentomologist, came to IPB to present their studies on Fruit Shoot BorerResistant (FSBR)-Eggplant as well as to engage in discussions with theresearchers conducting the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II(ABSPII)- and Economic Modernization through Efficient ReformsGovernance Enhancement (EMERGE)-funded project on FSBR Eggplant.

Both Drs. Char and Parimi shared with the project team theirexperiences on the regulatory aspect, biosafety and insect resistancemanagement of Bt eggplant in India. They also presented their study onBt eggplant which highlighted the benefits that farmers receive fromplanting Bt eggplant such as increased economic yields, and health andenvironmental safety of the technology. The scientists also toured theIPB facilities, particularly the Biological Level (BL2) screenhouse whichhouses the contained trial of the FSBR Eggplants.

MAHYCO is the provider of the Bt gene used in the current FSBREggplant project. The company primarily develops, produces, and marketsa broad range of quality seeds developed through biotechnology.

On another occasion, a lecture on Insecticide Resistance

Management(IRM) washeld at theDepartmentofEntomologylastNovember 9,2006 by. Dr.AnthonyShelton, arenownedentomologistfrom Cornell University.

Among the lecture highlights were the different IRM implementationpractices, testing IRM strategies, the elements of an IRM program,monitoring techniques for IRM, the challenges in implanting IRM, aswell as the risks and benefits of IRM.

The lecture was organized by ABSPII in collaboration with the CropProtection Cluster and the Program for Biosafety System (PBS). (ARDCefre and ZB Juliano)

US Embassy Economic Officer Visits PRSV Papayaand FSBR Eggplant Projects

Ms. Debra Benavidez, US Embassy Economic Officer and Ms. Theresa N. Villa, EconomicSpecialist, visited the PRSV Papaya and FSBR Eggplant projects last November 14, 2007. Thevisit of Ms. Benavidez to the PRSV Papaya project was her second, the first visit was during thesigning of the most recent Public Law 480 (PL 480) Agreement between the US and Philippinegovernments.

“I was very interested in the PRSV papaya project when I was here at the Institute a fewmonths back. At that time, I did not have the opportunity to ask the researchers since our mainpurpose was the signing of PL 480. I decided to come back to see the plants again and to interactwith the researchers,” Ms. Benavidez said.

Ms. Benavidez was impressed with the progress of the IPB researchers and the efforts theyhave made in the development of both the PRSV papaya and FSBR eggplant projects. (VRG Lee)

Drs. Bharat and Char (right) answers questions aboutthe Bt eggplant from the audience after they presentedtheir study in IPB. (Photo by ARD Cefre)

Ms. Debra Benavidez (left) discussesmatters about the FSBR eggplant inside thecontained site with Dr. Josefina Narciso.(Photo by ARD Cefre)

International Farmers and ISU Students Visit BL2Thirty-seven farmers from around the globe as well as 22 BSBiology students and three biology professors from Isabela StateUniversity (ISU) visited the containment facilities of the PapayaRingspot Virus-Resistant Papaya (PRSV Papaya) and the FruitShoot Borer-Resistant Eggplant (FSBR Eggplant) in the Instituteof Plant Breeding, University of the Philippines Los Baños ontwo separate occasions.

The farmers visited Biological Level 2 (BL2) facilities lastDecember 6, 2006 as part of their seminar-workshop entitled“Farmer Outreach: Strengthening the Competitiveness of SmallFarmers”, while the ISU students came to BL2 on November 30,2006 as part of their own seminar-workshop on biotechnologysponsored by the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines, theSEAMEO Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research inAgriculture, and Dow AgroSciences. Both groups were given anintroductory briefing of the PRSV-resistant Papaya and FSBREggplant projects by Dr. Desiree M. Hautea, Regional Coordinatorof the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII),

The visitors were also briefed by the project researchers of boththe PRSV-Resistant Papaya and the FSBR Eggplant. Open forawere held for both groups after the tours. Common questions askedby the participants were the projects’ funding support, theregulations on conducting trial at contained facility, and theprojects’ benefit to small farmers. (ZB Juliano)

ABSP SOUTHEAST ASIA NEWSLETTERVOL. III NO. 1 January 2007

Contributors for this Issue:Pablito M. MagdalitaJosefina O. NarcisoDesiree M. HauteaVirma Rea G. LeeZabrina B. Juliano

Avery Randall D. Cefre

Photographers:Thaddeus P. Lawas

Abigail Marie M. OropesaAvery Randall D. Cefre

Gladys C. Ebron

Lay-out Artists:Zabrina B. JulianoClement Dionglay