Photo Release

Help Improve the Cotton Industry: Sen. Risa Hontiveros urges the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA) to help improve the country’s cotton industry by exerting more effort in developing inbred cotton seeds than lobbying to lift the ban on Bt cotton importation. “It may be too easy to just rely on importing Bt cotton seeds or whatever crops instead of using your budget to improve the resiliency of our inbred cotton against bollworm and other pests and problems facing our inbred cotton,” Hontiveros said during the continuation of the virtual hearing of Finance Subcommittee B on the proposed P86.3 billion budget of the Department of Agriculture and its attached agencies and corporations, Monday, October 19, 2020. Bt cotton is a genetically modified crop designed to combat bollworm. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)