India to produce biotech cotton

Global agricultural research leader Monsanto recently announced the approval by the government of India of the commercial cultivation and distribution of a biotechnology-processed cotton variety, a major step in the sub-continent’s bid for agricultural productivity.

Noel Borlongan, Government and Public Affairs Director for the Philippines, said India’s adoption of Bt cotton "allowed it to be in step with other Asian countries in the quest for food sufficiency and security". China, Thailand and Indonesia have likewise hastened their respective testing of the application of biotechnology in their respective agricultural sectors.

The St. Louis, Missouri-based Monsanto provides the biggest assistance to the development of agriculture in Third World countries through research and technology transfer, primarily on the application of modern biotechnology to improve farm productivity and protect ecology.

Borlongan said India’s decision to adopt biotech cotton will significantly reduce or eliminate the need for insecticide application, and could increase the earnings of India’s cotton farmers by as much as $150 per hectare. Indian farmers have to apply insecticides six times per cotton cropping using traditional cotton varieties.

Borlongan said the Philippines would enjoy the same ecological benefits with the forthcoming commercialization of the biotechnology corn variety called YieldGard. This is because the use of the variety also reduces or eliminates the need to apply insecticide. YieldGard is naturally resistant to the Asiatic Corn Borer, the biggest scourge of local corn crops, especially in Mindanao. Previously concludeds farm trials in the Philippines also showed that local corn farmers could up their harvest by as much as 40 percent, resulting in additional income of P5,000 to P10,000 per hectare.

The adoption of biotechnology cotton by India was hailed worldwide. Borlongan said that among the plaudits received by the Indian government came from Nobel laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug who said"the new tools of biotechnology will speed up the development of crops with higher genetic yield potentials, increased resistance to disease and insects, and greater tolerance to drought, heat, cold, and soil toxicities".

Borlaug underscored the need for biotechnology application in agriculture to help countries with large populations meet the need for food sufficiency without tapping additional land for planting.