Bi - Modal Preferences for Bt Maize in the Philippines : A Latent Class Model

Asia is the home of the Green Revolutions in wheat and rice (Hazell, 2010), as well as more than half of the world’s poor people, but has been slow to introduce biotech food or feed crops. The only country in Asia to have approved a biotech food or feed crop is the Philippines, where Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) maize was initially commercialized in 2003. Not only is the Philippines unique as an adopter in its own region, but on a global scale it is among the few developing countries to adopt genetically modified (GM) maize. An indepth study of public understanding and perceptions among a range of stakeholder groups in the Philippines (Torres, Suva, Carpio, & Dagli, 2006) found that a majority did not relate biotechnology to moral values. Most respondents expressed the belief that genetic engineering could lead to more nutritious and cheaper foods, although they remained cautious on matters of food safety and regulatory requirements for biotechnology and biotech-derived products. In the first year of commercial adoption (2003), Bt maize (including that combined with herbicide tolerance) was grown on only 1% of the total area planted with maize—about 10,769 hectares. In 2007, an estimated 16% of maize planted was Bt. National hectarage increased to about 280,417—or by roughly 22%—in 2009 (Department of Agriculture, 2010). International Service for the Acquisition of Agric-Biotech Applications (ISAAA, 2011) reports that the area planted to biotech maize attained 541,000 ha in 2010. Bt/herbicidetolerant (HT) maize represented the largest share of the total in that year, followed by HT maize and single-trait Bt maize. Biotech maize in the Philippines is yellow and used as feed. As a percentage of all yellow maize planted, biotech maize has increased by an estimated 5% per year, reaching 42% of area grown in 2010. Maize is the second most important grain in the Philippines after rice and is the third largest contributor to gross value added in agriculture. Maize consumed directly as human food is white. Yellow maize is especially important for the Filipino economy as an input to the growing livestock sector, where it accounts for almost two-thirds of livestock feed formulation. The demand for yellow maize in the Philippines has been increasing since 1970s, with a large annual supply deficit (Mangabat, 1999; Teh & Yorobe, 1993; Unnevehr & Nelson, 1985). From 1969 until the recent Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Maize Program, eight nationwide maize production programs have been launched by the government to promote the adoption of improved yellow maize (Mangabat, 1999; United Nations Development Programme, National Economic and Development Authority [UNDP-NEDA], 2005). Since 1980, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics data show that white maize production has declined, yields of white maize have dropped, and farmers have reallocated crop area toward yellow maize and/or higher-value crops like sugarcane and vegetables (Gerpacio, Labios, Labios, & Ekin Birol International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)