List of local crop pests to boost PHL exports — Plant Bureau exec

The Bureau of Plant Industry has expressed confidence the country’s agriculture exports will get a boost once the agency publishes a list of pests and diseases that plague local crops. BPI's crop protection chief Wilma Cuaterno said the long-overdue list, which has 3,000 specimens, will correct misguided impressions about local agricultural products, adding that this negative view is the “number-one barrier" to exportation. She said that due to the absence of the list, importers would tend to believe that Philippine agricultural products are unfit for exportation due to lack of information on the types of pests — which she considered as "manageable" — that attack local crops. “Kung maganda ang plant health, may countries na magiging interested sa produce natin (If our plants are healthy, other countries will be interested to import)," Cuaterno added. WTO requirement The bureau plans to publish the first installment of the list next year, in compliance with the 1994 World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement over the levels of prevalence of pests on crops the organization's members import. The agreement specifies sanitary and phyto-sanitary requirements to ensure low prevalence of pests and crop-related diseases. Cuaterno said that without an official list of pests and crop-related diseases, prospective importers of Philippine farm products will rely on other documentary sources to check on the health of local crops. Moreover, she said the list of pests and diseases will make the research and checking processes more convenient for importers. “Even ang farmers natin, malalaman na ‘pag nagtanim sila ng ganitong crop, ito ‘yung associated disease (Even our farmers will be informed of the diseases associated with the crops they plant)," Cuaterno added. In a paper published in ASEANET, an ASEAN-recognized taxonomy network, Dr. Graeme Evans said a specimen-based pest list – which can be reexamined and validated unlike published reports – is the most reliable evidence of the health of a country’s crops. Without this, a country “is at a disadvantage when negotiating access to foreign markets." “Extensive specimen-based pest records held in biological collections are the key for developing countries to negotiate with developed countries on a level playing field," Evans said. — Paterno Esmaquel II/LBG/VS, GMANews.TV