Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Purple S. Romero

At the EU-ASEAN Ministerial Consultation on research cooperation held in Manila from July 6 to 8, 2008, European and Asian scientists presented programs that aim to increase rice production and weaken the environmental impact of aquaculture amid the economic and social turmoil triggered by rising food prices.

Food costs have escalated sharply since last year especially for grain, dairy and cooking oil.

In the Philippines, rice prices increased 72 percent since the beginning of 2008 following volatile global demand-and-supply movements. In Indonesia, cooking oil prices skyrocketed to double digits at 12,000 rupiah (one dollar) per kilogram from 6,000 rupiah in 2007.

The food crisis has spurred food riots in various parts of the world. Protests over soybean shortage have recently plagued Indonesia. In Malaysia, the government offered to trade palm oil to any rice-producing country to sustain rice supply.

The ministerial consultation was organized in conjunction with the Fifth Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Science and Technology, being held in Manila from 6 to 11 July, 2008.

European Commission Director General for Research Jose Manuel Silva Rodriguez said it is highly important to "establish a regional dialogue" to come up with measures to strengthen food security.

Metabolomics

One such dialogue and research initiative has been going on since 2006, where experts in plant biology from 11 countries are working on a new science to improve crop production. The International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines and Lao rice research systems in Vietnam are regional participants in this initiative, which received an EU$8 million-funding from the European Commission.

IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler said that this program, called Metabolomics for Plants, Health and Outreach (META-PHOR), aims to explore metabolomics, a new, rising science that focuses on small molecules, to improve breeding, storage and processing strategies of rice, melon and broccoli.

He added that metabolomics will be developed further to determine the "taste, fragrance and nutritional value" of rice, particularly which are most suited for quality development as consumers demand healthy products.

Metabolomics works by detecting small molecules that could elucidate the biochemical composition of foodstuffs. According to a manuscript written by Robert Hall, deputy business manager of bioscience at Plant Research International, biochemical profile shows the quality of food and its properties such as shelf life, nutritional strength and market value.

META-PHOR aims to strengthen metabolomics research by establishing a European metabolimics consortium for broader collaboration that would pool disciplines and come up with a set of strategies and standards that could give direction to metabolomics development.

Aquaculture impact

In the Philippines, scientists have recently completed a project to mitigate the hazardous effects of aquaculture on the environment. Called Philminaq (short for Mitigating Impact from Aquaculture in the Philippines), the project, undertaken by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in partnership with the UP Marine Science Institute (MSI) and Norwegian environmental consultancy plan AkvaPlan-Nipa, seeks to improve the government`s capability to monitor, control and refine aquaculture.

Maria San Diego-McGlone, director of MSI, said that aquaculture, or the farming of freshwater and saltwater organisms, produces 48 percent - the largest portion - of the local total fish yield. Commercial fisheries account for only 31 percent of fish production, while municipal fisheries contribute 29 percent.

Patrick Sorgeloos, chairman of the Asia-Europe Meeting Aquaculture Platform, added that the worldwide demand for aquaculture is pegged at an annual growth rate of 9.2 percent. A main driver for the heightened demand is the growing dependence of European countries on imported fish. Sorgeloos said that last year, Europe spent $20 billion on fish imports alone.

In the Philippines, aquaculture and fisheries form about a fifth of the total economy, producing jobs for around 10 million people.

But while aquaculture has economic benefits, McGlone said that it also causes fish kills, red tide, eutrophication or the increase in chemical nutrients, and other forms of aquatic pollution.

Philminaq developed monitoring mechanisms for the government to help them assess the effects of aquaculture on the environment. These monitoring tools include three categories of surveys - an inexpensive survey to be conducted by local government units, a medium-level survey that entails additional equipment by government regional offices and aquaculture management groups, and a baseline survey to be carried out by national government research institutes.

Philminaq also introduced the use of a Geographic Information System that could help LGUs and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in policy development on sustainable aquaculture.

Radical science

Meanwhile, the possibility of using radical science to offset the food crisis continues to gain ground and stir debates around the world.

Examples of radical science include biotechnology, which modifies organisms through different techniques. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are outputs of biotechnology. GMOs include Bt corn, which has a built-in barrier against insect attacks, and Roundup Ready crops, which are resistant to the herbicide Roundup.

Roundup ready crops have a market in the United States, but are yet to break through in Europe.

While continued opposition against GMOs due to its alleged negative effects on health clipped its chances to go global, efforts to produce animal-free meat are underway.

A group of scientists from Netherlands aims to come up with animal-free meat by using animal cells injected with glucose, amino acids and minerals.

A similar effort to provide alternative sources for meat, however, was recently thumbed down by the European Group on Ethics on Science and New Technologies.

The introduction to use meat from cloned animals was called "unethical" by the panel composed of 15 experts from the European Union following cases where surrogate mothers of cloned species experienced health problems such as kidney failure and enlarged livers.


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