Philippine Economic Society (PES)
The Los Baños leg of the Philippine Economic Society (PES)’s economic and financial literacy activities featured a symposium on the Economics of Biotech Crops on 17 July 2018 at the SEARCA Umali Auditorium, University of the Philippines-Los Baños, Laguna. The symposium was attended by around 40 participants from the academe, government, and private sector.
The symposium began with a situationer on the global status of biotech crops, presented by Director Rhodora Aldemita of the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), followed by a report on the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)’s researches on biotech rice by Dr. Russell Reinke, Head of IRRI’s Healthier Rice Program.
Dr. Cesar Quicoy of the UPLB College of Economics and Management talked about the socio-economics of biotech crops, particularly Bt eggplant, while IRRI Senior Scientist Dr. Matty Demont presented his paper on the socio-economic impact of biofortification through genetic modification.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ramon Clarete of the UP School of Economics and Dr. Marites Tiongco of the De La Salle University School of Economics served as reactors to the presentations, while Dr. Kevin Chua of the World Bank served as moderator during the open forum.
The symposium was co-organized by the PES, IRRI, ISAAA, and SEARCA, as one of the activities towards the promotion of economic and financial literacy pursuant to Republic Act 10922 or the Economic and Financial Literacy Act.