Source: Daily Times via Checkbiotech

Cultivation of BT (bacillus thuriengenesis) cotton seed is illegal, said director Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI), Muhammad Islam Gill

Talking to APP on Saturday, he said that the government authorities concerned, particularly ministry of food, agriculture and livestock, have not yet allowed the sowing of BT cotton.

“The locally-evolved cotton seed is still undergoing research and experimentation, and it is premature to cultivate it on commercial scale,” he said. Gill said some seed merchants are marketing imported seed varieties of BT cotton whose cultivation here is not devoid of danger. These can cause a host of problems such as a cotton leaf curl virus (CLCV) attack on the plant.

Cotton researchers are working to evolve a BT cotton seed variety which suits our environment, soil and climatic conditions, and such a locally-developed and government-approved seed will be free of all perils, he observed.

For the present time, he recommended cultivation of CIM-496, CIM-506, CIM-499, CIM-473, FH-901 and NIAB-111 cotton seed varieties, which ensure good yield, long staple, more ginning out-turn (lint), and are heat and CLCV-tolerant, less susceptible to insect attack and require less irrigation.

“The locally-developed BT cotton is likely to increase our production even beyond last year’s figure of 15 million bales,” he said, adding that although the foreign BT cotton is more productive and needs less pesticide sprays, it has several other drawbacks.

It requires more irrigation, more fertilizer and undergoes more fruit shedding, it may not acclimatise to our harsh summer conditions, and being a late maturing variety it will delay the sowing of wheat, leading to less per acre yield.

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