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St. Louis, Missouri
October 1, 2001
Monsanto Company (NYSE:
MON) has received renewed registration for its Bollgard
insect-protected cotton from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). The registration extends the commercial license to
sell Bollgard cotton an additional five years.
"This renewed registration assures that cotton growers can
continue to use this valuable technology to protect against
insect pests while reducing the use of chemical pesticides,"
says Randy Deaton, global cotton lead for Monsanto. "This
renewal affirms the EPA's assessment of the environmental and
health safety, effectiveness and benefits of this technology."
Monsanto's registration also continues key stewardship
practices, including refinements to the existing comprehensive
insect resistance management (IRM) program.
The EPA originally approved Bollgard cotton in 1995, prior to
its commercial launch in 1996. Today's announcement amends and
continues the original registration, coming at the end of an
extensive re-registration process that included evaluation of
the technology, monitoring of commercial-level environmental
impacts and an assessment of required stewardship practices.
"We are pleased that the EPA has re-registered Bollgard cotton
without any significant change in the insect resistance
management plans as recommended by the industry," said Hollis
Isbell, National Cotton Council leader and Alabama grower.
"Growers need this technology and
are keenly aware of the importance of an effective IRM strategy.
Consistent refuge options will help promote compliance," Isbell
said.
Growers across the country have experienced the benefits of Bt
crops since their introduction, including the option of using an
additional pest management tool. These benefits often provide
growers with economic advantages over their conventional
counterparts and result in a decreased use of in-crop chemical
applications.
Monsanto research highlighting six years of comparison trials
across the Cotton Belt have shown that Bollgard cotton provides
an average yield advantage of 7 percent compared to cotton
without protection, Deaton said.
"The average net income advantage for the Bollgard acre versus
the non-Bollgard acre during this six year period was $44.70,"
noted Deaton. "For a grower with 300 acres of cotton, that's
well over $10,000 per year."
Furthermore, Monsanto's Bollgard cotton is a great example of
how biotechnology can reduce the amount of pesticide
applications on a specific crop. According to the National
Agricultural Statistics Service, farmers have used 2 million
fewer pounds of insecticides since the introduction of Bt-cotton
than before the use of this crop plant. In contrast, each year
growers of conventional cotton were forced to spray on average
two and one-half more insecticide applications per acre than
Bollgard growers did.
EPA has extended its decision on insect-protected corn,
including Monsanto's YieldGard corn, to allow the public
additional time to review recently published scientific studies
that demonstrate no harm to Monarch butterflies. A decision is
expected in about two weeks.
Insect Resistance Management and Key Elements of the
Registration
An important part of Bollgard cotton product stewardship is the
insect resistance management plan to control the potential
development of resistance by the tobacco budworm, cotton
bollworm, and pink bollworm. Insect resistance management plans
are designed to keep these target pest insects from developing
resistance to the technology, so that it will remain an
effective pest control tool. These plans require planting a
non-Bt cotton refuge within a specific distance from each Bt
cotton field to serve as habitat for susceptible insects. If a
resistant insect survives on the Bt crop, it will mate with
susceptible insects from the refuge, producing offspring that
will be susceptible and die when they feed on the Bt cotton,
thus preventing resistance from being carried over into future
generations. To date, biotech crops are the only insect control
technologies to require these stewardship plans in the United
States.
As in the past, IRM plans will continue to require growers using
Bollgard cotton to plant a conventional cotton refuge to provide
an adequate population of susceptible insects to counter any
resistant insects that could emerge from protected fields. There
is no evidence of resistance in six years of commercial planting
of Monsanto's Bollgard technology. During this timeframe,
Bollgard technology was planted on over 20 million acres in the
United States.
Key elements of the renewed registration include:
- The term of the renewed
registration is another five years, with the same resistance
management options offered in the past. EPA will review the
effectiveness of one of the options in 2004 to determine
whether it will continue after that season.
- A third party will conduct an
annual survey to measure grower understanding and proper use
of the resistance management requirements as is currently done
with insect-protected corn today, and EPA will expect growers
to affirm their compliance with the requirements
annually.
- Growers can continue to use a
"community refuge," following specific guidance, rather than
requiring each grower to plant unprotected cotton in their own
fields.
Monsanto Company is a leading
global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural
products that improve farm productivity and food quality. For
more information on Monsanto and biotechnology, see:
www.monsanto.com.
Company news release
N3845
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