Plant Breeders, Also Journalists Are Important In Developing PH Agriculture – But They Must Practice “Science With A Human Phase”

Remember: Science is for People, not Plant Breeders, not Journalists.

The article “SEARCA Tells Filipino Plant Breeders To Use Genomics In Crop Dev’t” in the Manila Bulletin of 23 November 2020 by Madelaine B Miraflor‌, has lessons for the Editor and the Journalist.

I happen to be an agriculturist, writer & editor. So I know that there, the Journalist misses the point of the news coming from the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study & Research in Agriculture, SEARCA. The angle of the Journalist is off tangent. Yes, SEARCA said, via Director Glenn B Gregorio, “Plant breeders should use technology that makes use of gene transformation to fast-track development of crops like the Golden Rice, which has superior traits.” But that is not the major message of Mr Gregorio.

We can find that main point from what the SEARCA Director says, which the Journalist herself quotes:

I am a plant breeder, and I’m very familiar with (molecular) marker-assisted selection. As I get older, I realize the importance of sales, of commercialization. We should have market-aided selection so that our selection for traits should be based on the market, not only markers (molecular markers). There should always be a business component in everything we do.

When scientists produce a genetically modified organism, GMO, like Golden Rice that which they have bred to produce more Vitamin A than the usual rice grain, those scientists do not produce for their own satisfaction but for the rice eaters.

The market for science is the people, not the scientists!
(“Science for the people[1]” image from Astig.ph)

Very clearly, Mr Gregorio is saying, “I realize the importance of sales, of commercialization.” You have a beautiful produce? You still have to sell it to the public. “Science with a human face” was how Secretary of Agriculture William Dar put it when he was Director General of ICRISAT 2000-2014. If the people do not like your product, they will not bite!

Plant breeding is for people, not plant breeders. “We should have market-aided selection so that our selection for traits should be based on the market, not only markers (molecular markers).” The human phase is: Breed the crop according to what the target consumers want, or need.

Yes, the Journalist is right in claiming that Mr Gregorio said to use genomics in crop development, so that you can breed faster a desired crop and reduce breeding costs by 32% compared to the conventional methods. But the customer must like your new product, or there is no sale!

I remember now my idol. Whom the GMO people should be emulating in creating new products is the genius Steve Jobs of Apple – he instinctively knew what people wanted even if they could not articulate it. No market research, but when the iPod appeared, everyone wanted it! And so with the iPhone, and the iPad (tablet computer)…

Everyone needs Steve Jobs’ genius to produce and sell new products. Even among plant breeders, may his tribe increase!@517

 


[1]https://astig.ph/bulacan-state-university-science-technology-week-2019-event/

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