Genetically enhanced varieties of cotton led to yield gains of between 30 and 35 percent and boosted cotton production in India to record levels in 2004, according to India's agriculture minister.

And with more of India's estimated 4 million cotton farmers expected to plant biotech cotton in coming years, production — and rural economic development in the important textile sector — will likely be even higher.¹

"The Bt cotton yield was definitely better in quality and quantity, boosting production by 30 to 35 percent in areas it was sown," Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar recently told the Indo-Asian News Service.²

But he also noted that relatively low infestation levels of cotton's principal pest, the bollworm, and favorable monsoon rains helped produce the bumper cotton crop.

While less than 1 percent of the 22.2 million acres of cotton planted in India was sowed with biotech varieties in 2003, this could increase to more than 11 percent in 2005, according to industry estimates.³

Since being approved for planting in 2002, Bt cotton — enhanced with a naturally occurring soil protein, Bacillus thuringiensis — has been quickly adopted by Indian cotton farmers because of the dramatic yield and income gains.

Mahalingappa Shankarikoppa, who grows cotton on a two-acre plot in the southern Indian state of Karnatka, said he earns two to three times what he did when planting conventional seeds.

Likewise, farmer Kishore Malviya, who grows cotton on a six-acre plot in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, says his yields are "way above my normal yield" — biotech cotton is "a dream come true for me."⁴

While there are an estimated 4 million cotton farmers in India, an estimated 60 million people earn a living from the production, processing and export of cotton and cotton goods.⁵

Textiles are India's No. 1 export,⁶ and cotton accounts for about 30 percent of the country's agricultural gross domestic product.⁷ Because cotton plays such an important role in India's rural economic development, government leaders have been eager to improve production. The 2002 approval of three varieties of Bt cotton for planting was just one action taken to encourage rural economic development and raise living standards.

While India plants more farmland with cotton than any other country — 25 percent of the world's cotton acres are in India — it produces just 12 percent of the world's cotton.⁸ Average yields, about 500 pounds per acre, are among the lowest in the world.⁹

And in addition to boosting production of this cash crop, India also hopes to increase the availability of edible cottonseed oil to help feed India's growing population of 1 billion people.¹⁰

The agriculture minister's comments about the benefits of biotech cotton are reinforced by several studies. A nationwide survey by ACNielsen ORG-MARG of 1,672 biotech cotton farmers and 1,371 conventional cotton farmers found that:

• Profits increased 78 percent, on average, over farmers who planted traditional varieties.

• Yields increased 29 percent, on average.

• Pesticide use declined by 60 percent, on average.¹¹

In that 2003 survey, 90 percent of the biotech cotton farmers said they intended to plant a biotech variety again in 2004, and 42 percent of the non-biotech farmers said they planned to make the switch the next year.

The popularity of this new technology also reflects the experience of cotton farmers in the seven other countries that have approved biotech cotton for planting: Argentina, Australia, China, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and the United States.¹²

In China, for example, 58 percent of the cotton acres were planted with biotech varieties in 2003. ¹³In South Africa, the adoption rate is estimated at about 90 percent in the cotton-growing Makhathini region. In the United States, 76 percent of all cotton acres were planted with biotech varieties in 2004.

Because biotech cotton has proven to be so beneficial for Indian farmers, interest is growing in other biotech crops.

According to a December 2004 study by a leading U.S. food and trade policy analyst, India has at least 20 academic and research institutions involved in plant biotech research covering 16 crops.

Among the research is that on a protein-rich potato being developed that could one day be fed to school children to help combat malnutrition and a vitamin A-rich mustard seed oil that could help prevent blindness.

India is one of the world's greatest beneficiaries of improvements in agricultural technology. The so-called Green Revolution triggered a more than threefold increase in rice and wheat production in the developing countries of Asia, including India, between 1961 and 2000, and saved millions of lives.

Indian leaders and others say that what the Green Revolution did for the 20th century, the coming gene revolution can do for the 21st century: increase production with more environmentally friendly farming techniques to feed a growing, more affluent global population.

"The results [from Bt cotton] certainly encourage us to look at other GM crops," said Pawar.¹⁴

For more information:

Bt Cotton Helps Boosts India's Cotton Output to Record Level — Indo-Asian News Service

Prospects for Bt Cotton Technology in India — Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company

Bt Cotton Creates Three Times the Earnings for Indian Farmer — Council for Biotechnology Information

Australian Farmers Gear Up for New Bt Cotton — Council for Biotechnology Information

Protein-Rich Potato Could Help Combat Malnutrition in India — Council for Biotechnology Information

Biotechnology Helps Women Farmers Provide for Their Families in Africa — Council for Biotechnology Information

Small Farmer in Africa Gets Big Gains From Bt Cotton — Council for Biotechnology Information

¹ Barwale, R.B. "Prospects for Bt cotton technology in India," Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company, Nov. 17, 2004, <www.agbios.com/main.php?action=ShowNewsItem&id=6025>.

² "Bt cotton helps boosts India's cotton output to record level," Indo-Asian News Service, Nov. 5, 2004, <http://athens-olympics-2004.newkerala.com/?action=fullnews&id=41109>.

³ Barwale, R.B. "Prospects for Bt cotton technology in India," Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company, Nov. 17, 2004, <www.agbios.com/main.php?action=ShowNewsItem&id=6025>.

⁴ "Nationwide Survey by AC Nielsen ORG-MARG Underscores Benefits of Bollgard™ Cotton," AC Nielsen/Mahyco Monsanto Press release, March 26, 2004.

⁵ James, Clive. "Global Review of Commercialized Transgenic Crops: 2001 Feature: Bt Cotton," International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, December 2002, p. 105, <www.isaaa.org>.

⁶ James, Clive. "Global Review of Commercialized Transgenic Crops: 2001 Feature: Bt Cotton," International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, December 2002, p. 105, <www.isaaa.org>.

⁷ Barwale, R.B. "Prospects for Bt cotton technology in India," Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company, Nov. 17, 2004, <www.agbios.com/main.php?action=ShowNewsItem&id=6025>.

⁸ James, Clive. "Global Review of Commercialized Transgenic Crops: 2001 Feature: Bt Cotton," International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, December 2002, p. 105, <www.isaaa.org>.

⁹ James, Clive. "Global Review of Commercialized Transgenic Crops: 2001 Feature: Bt Cotton," International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, December 2002, p. 105, <www.isaaa.org>.

¹⁰ "Benefits of Bollgard™ Technology for the Overall Economy," Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Pvt. Ltd., Press release, March 26, 2004.

¹¹ "Nationwide Survey by AC Nielsen ORG-MARG Underscores Benefits of Bollgard™ Cotton," AC Nielsen/Mahyco Monsanto Press release, March 26, 2004.

¹² Barwale, R.B. "Prospects for Bt cotton technology in India," Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company, Nov. 17, 2004, <www.agbios.com/main.php?action=ShowNewsItem&id=6025>.

¹³ "Double-Digit Growth Continues for Biotech Crops Worldwide," International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, Press release and executive summary, Jan. 13, 2004, <www.isaaa.org/Press_release/Briefs30-2003/press/b30_english.htm>.

¹⁴ "Bt cotton helps boosts India's cotton output to record level," Indo-Asian News Service, Nov. 5, 2004, <http://athens-olympics-2004.newkerala.com/?action=fullnews&id=41109>.
 

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