Philippines asks for more herbicide-tolerant soybean

THE Philippine Maize Federation Inc. (Philmaize) is asking Monsanto Philippines to introduce herbicide-tolerant soybean in the Philippines to further contribute to measures to attain food security in the country.

Philmaize chairman emeritus Roderico Bioco said Philmaize has proposed to Monsanto to introduce a tropical soybean variety in the country where there is still a limited production of soybean.

Soybean, Bioco said, is one of the major ingredients in feeds. It is around 20 percent of feeds while corn makes up around 50 percent of all feeds.

Bioco said soybean has many advantages that could cut costs and increase production of feeds in the country. He said, for one, soybean can be a good alternative to corn since it can be harvested after only three months or 90 days from planting.

This is shorter than the time required for corn, which takes 110 to 120 days to grow. With shorter growing periods, Bioco said soybean can even allow for a third cropping. He added that soybean’s roots retain nitrogen, which acts as a natural fertilizer.

"What’s good with soybean is that it’s like putting three bags of urea for the next crop. It also rehabs the soil,” Bioco said.

The top sybean producers in the world are Argentina, the United States and Brazil. Brazil is now emerging as the world’s biggest soybean producer. As another tropical country, the Philippines can also do well in soybean production like Brazil.

According to the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, in 2007, the Philippines imported 1,322.54 metric tons of soybean oil/cake meal (livestock feed for beef, swine, poultry, even fish) valued at $392.02 million.

The bulk of that, 912.01 MT, or 69 percent, came from Argentina, and 303.56 metric tons, or 23 percent, came from the United States. The rest came from India, Taiwan, China and others.