Indonesia now into GM crop production

MAKASSAR CITY, Indonesia — This country has ventured into the production of a genetically modified (GM) crop.

This gives Indonesia the distinction of being the first Southeast Asian country to go into the commercial production of a GM crop — cotton.

Now robustly growing in 4,000 hectares in seven districts in South Sulawesi province are GM cotton plants being grown by thousands of Indonesian farmers.

They expect to harvest their Bt cotton crop in August. And this early, they are looking forward to a bountiful harvest, as hundreds of them did last year when they participated in the trials of the promising cash crop.

Bt stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacillus commonly found in soil. Through a biotechnological process called genetic engineering, a gene produced from Bt has been introduced into a new cotton variety. The technique makes a new cotton plant a "natural chemical factory" that can produce its Bt protein, which protects the plant from cotton pests, particularly the destructive bollworm.

The Bt toxin, once ingested by a bollworm, is activated in the worm’s intestine by alkaline digestive juice and produces toxicity. The digestive system will be damaged after the bollworm eats Bt toxin and it eventually dies because it cannot eat anything owing to its "gastric perforation."

The adaptation trials of the transgenic Bt DP5690B cotton were conducted last year in seven regencies (districts) in South Sulawesi, namely Bantaeng, Bone, Bulukumba, Gowa, Soppeng, Talakar and Wajo.

The trials, done by the Hasanuddin University in South Sulawesi and Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) showed that the insect-resistant Bollgard cotton (Bt cotton) showed very positive results.

Bollgard outperformed its isogenic line, DP5690, and the local variety, Kanesia 7, in 15 locations tested.

Bollgard yielded an average of 1.12-3 tons per tons per hectare while DP5690 and Kanesia 7 turned out 0.53-1.67 and 0.47-1.43 t/ha, respectively.

Bollgard planting Bantaeng gave farmers an average net income per hectare of 3,878,625 rupiahs ($356) compared to the 747,125 rupiahs/ha for planting the local variety.

Monsanto/PT Monagro Kimia started variety trials as early as 1996 to find the best cotton variety to be developed in Indonesia, specifically in South Sulawesi.

In 1998, as part of the regulatory process for the commercialization of genetically improved crops, glasshouse trials and limited field trials were conducted. In 1999, Bt cotton was approved and declared as environmentally safe to be planted in Indonesia.

Last year, a number of studies were conducted, including multi-location trials, farmers’ acceptance trials and effects on nontarget organism trials.

In last year’s trials, Monsanto (a transnational chemical company in the United States which successfully put a boll-protecting gene into the genetic group of cotton) and extension workers of the Indonesian Estate Crops Office taught the farmers the Bt cotton technology.

Based on the outcome, the Indonesian Minister of Agriculture issued a decree last February allowing limited planting of Bollgard cotton in seven districts in South Sulawesi for one year.

Some of the farmers who participated in last year’s trials in village Kaloling in Bantaeng Regency said in interviews with this writer and scientists of the Los Baños-based International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA)-Southeast Asia Center that they earned a lot from planting the Bt cotton. (The ISAAA-SEA Center scientists were Dr. Margarita Escaler and Dr. Mariechel Jamias-Navarro.)

Muhammad Arshad, 31, head of the South Sulawesi chapter of the Indonesian Cotton Farmers’ Association, reported that 152 farmers in his village (Kaloling, situated 140 kilometers south of this capital city of South Sulawesi) tilling 92 hectares participated in last year’s trials.

Most of them earned an average net income of 6 million rupiahs during the season (five months). With the traditional variety they used to plant, it earned them only an average of 1.5 million rupiahs for five months.

Muhammad Nasir, 34, also volunteered that he produced 3.8t/ha in last year’s trials, netting 7,621,000 rupiahs. From his income, he bought a cow and a piece of land.

He and Arshad, together with 571 other farmers in their village again planted Bt cotton (NuCOTN 35 B or Bollgard variety) in 422 ha this year.

In Bantaeng Regency alone, 2,744 farmers planted Bt cotton in 1,764 ha this year. A farmer tills an average of three-fourths of a hectare.

Many of the cotton bolls were beginning to open when we visited the cotton farms in Kaloling last week.

Arshad also said that market is not a problem as a company goes to their village to buy their harvest.

The inputs were provided by the company. A contract was signed by the farmers’ groups and the company. Witnesses were the village head and representatives of the Estate Crops Office.

Like in the Philippines, non-government organizations (NGOs) are also vigorously opposing the planting of GM crops in Indonesia. In fact, we were informed, an NGO has sued the Indonesian government for allowing the planting of Bt cotton in South Sulawesi.

But the farmers in Kaloling are not bothered at all by the protestations of the NGOs, whom they charged "don’t care about the welfare of the farmers. They (NGOs) are there in the cities making noise while the farmers toiled the farms."

For instance, the farmers explained, with the traditional variety of cotton, they sprayed an average of 7-12 times per planting season. The cost of chemicals bears on the production inputs and in the process their health is at risk.

But with the Bt cotton, they sprayed only at a maximum of three times. In fact, some of the farmers whom we interviewed said that as of that interview when it was almost harvest time, they had not sprayed.

The farmers plan to invite the NGOs to Bantaeng to see for themselves the benefits that the new Bt cotton technology has been bringing them. According to them, nobody can stop them from planting Bt cotton.

Owing to the controversy stirred by the NGOs, South Sulawesi Gov. H.Z.B. Palaguna visited the cotton farms in Bantaeng last June 28, after which he declared: "The cotton plants are performing very well and there was no significant pest attack. For that (advising the farmers) keep on moving forward and (wishing you) lots of success. Keep on fighting."