Hybrid cassava

MANILA — The genetically-modified Golden Rice touted by its German and Swiss inventors as packed with Vitamin A is becoming more controversial in the face of opposition to its commercial production in the Philippines. But that is just one of the many hybrid rice varieties developed by local and foreign scientists that is already being planted and consumed by Filipinos.

Incidentally, rice is not the only crop being hybridized for reasons like increasing yield or making plants pest-resistant. Even root crops like cassava are being modified, not genetically but physically, to satisfy craving for nicotine instead of cakes, pudding and kakanin.

A jail guard at the Surigao Del Norte District Jail recently found this out upon inspecting cassava roots that a child visitor was delivering to his incarcerated father. When Jail Officer 1 Rea Shenn Hinampas broke a couple of the tubers apart, she found tobacco leaves inside.

The cassavas apparently were hollowed out and the tobacco leaves were inserted into the space. With the clandestine container for contraband exposed, cassavas, and perhaps ampalaya, kamote, patola, upo and other look-alikes, are now red flags for jail wardens watching out for hidden contraband.

The photo of the tobacco leaves inside the cassava that was posted on the Facebook page of the BJMP is now eliciting many comments, including one describing the medium for the modus as a “hybrid kamote.”

“It should be boiled and fed to him, that hybrid kamote. I thought kamote is only found on the streets but even in jail it’s already available. Hahahaha,” the comment read.