Genetically Modified Cotton

GENETICALLY MODIFIED COTTON (Bt cotton)

Module:

Fabric Knowledge for Merchandisers.

Guide:

Ms. Bhavna

Course:

Masters of Fashion Management, National Institute Of Fashion Technology, Mumbai.

Batch:

Semester-1

Submitted By: Ajay Kumar Akansha Choudhary Alka Yadav Anurodh Agnihotri Arnav Paitandy Watan Gupta

Genetically Modified Cotton

MFM, Sem 1

About Cotton Cultivation: Cotton is more than just a fibre for textiles. It is also an important source of raw materials used in animal feed and for various processed food ingredients. Many countries are now growing genetically modified cotton. In China, GM cotton could drastically reduce pesticide use. Cotton fibres used in textiles around the world come from the seed hairs of a plant known as Gossypium hirsutum. Cotton, which is cultivated on five continents, develops in closed, green capsules known as bolls that burst open when ripe, revealing the white, fluffy fibres. After harvest, the fibres must be separated from the seeds. The protein- and oil-rich seeds can be processed into various side-products that are used in food and feed: Cottonseed oil is a high-value cooking or frying oil and is sometimes used to make margarine. The oil is also a source of vitamin E (tocopherol). Protein-rich cottonseed meal is mostly used as animal feed. Some, however, is used for protein preparations and cottonseed milk. Leftover fibres that are too short to be spun into textiles consist almost completely of cellulose and can be used as food additives. Cellulose (E 460) and methylcellulose (E 461) can be used as thickeners, stabilisers, emulsifiers, or fillers. What is Genetically modified (GM) cotton: Genetically Engineered Organisms and Genetically Modified Organisms, with Monsanto Corporation in the forefront of development. GE crops, including cotton seeds, have genetically modified properties with built-in resistance to herbicides and insects (Bt cotton), and are also called Frankencotton. Another mutant called terminator seeds, are sterile and force farmers to buy seed from major suppliers like Monsanto, instead of naturally saving seeds from year to year. Thankfully, terminator seeds are not expected to be marketed in the near future, according to Cornell University. Cottonseed oil from GE/GMO cotton crops is already in our food as a common ingredient in many processed foods, including peanut butter, cooking oils, salad dressings, cookies, snack chips and pastry crusts. GE and GMO farming is legal in the United States, and currently 73% of cotton grown in the U.S. is genetically engineered. With enormous global profit potential at stake, Monsanto has been viciously aggressive in acquiring global contracts and lobbying reluctant governments. Worse, poor farmers in these regions are routinely exploited with unfair pricing, and farmers in India have been devastated by losses from Monsanto's GE crop failures. While no studies are yet available to prove the danger of GE/GMOs, governments, scientists and environmentalists worldwide are alarmed at the potential contamination of soil and water, food supply, and airborne spread of these toxic organisms. The very real environmental contamination caused by GE/GMOs is making it impossible for any organic business to say with absolute certainty that organic cottons and woolens are 100% toxin free anymore, because we and our children, and animals, are increasingly exposed every day. The Organic Consumers Association is spearheading campaigns of zero tolerance, to stop corporations like Monsanto from continuing to flagrantly place the well being of people in last place, for corporate profit. We urge you to visit the Organic Consumers Association to learn more, fax petitions and make your voice heard.

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Genetically Modified Cotton

MFM, Sem 1

Present Senario of Genetically modified (GM) cotton in Asian Countries: genetically modified cotton plant, which makes up 35 percent of China's crop, is damaging the environment despite its success in controlling the bollworm, according to a report released in Beijing Monday. The plant, Bt transgenic cotton, harms natural parasitic enemies of the bollworm and seems to be encouraging other pests, according to the study by the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences (NIES) under the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA). Researchers have seen a significant decrease in populations of the bollworm's natural parasitic enemies. Bt transgenic cotton, containing anti-bollworm genes from certain bacilli, is in large-scale commercial production in China and the planting area was estimated to top 1.5 million hectares last year, accounting for about 35 percent of the total area planted in cotton, according to the Cotton Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The report says that the diversity index of the insect community in the Bt cotton fields is lower than conventional cotton fields, while the pest dominant concentration index is higher. The balance of the insect community is weaker in Bt cotton fields than in fields of conventional crops, because some kinds of insects thrive in the Bt fields and this is more likely to cause outbreaks of certain pests, said Xue Dayuan, the NIES expert in charge of the report. Populations of pests other than the cotton bollworm have increased in Bt cotton fields and some have even replaced it as primary pests because the GM plant is slow at controlling those pests, the report says. Scientists also verified with lab tests and field monitoring that the cotton bollworm will develop resistance to the GM cotton and concluded that Bt cotton will not resist the bollworm after eight to ten years of continuous cultivation. New GM organisms and products can benefit agriculture and many other industries, but people should always beware of the long term and underlying impacts on the environment, said Zhu Xinquan,chairman of the Chinese Society of Agro-Biotechnology which jointly hosted the seminar with the NIES and Greenpeace China. China is a centre for diversity of several plants such as the soy bean and faces the problem of how to protect original genes from imported GM products.

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Genetically Modified Cotton

MFM, Sem 1

Acreage of cotton in total and of GM cotton in million hectares USA Year

Cultivation Area in Million Hectar Total Cotton GM Cotton

GMO Ratio

1997

5.21

1.3

25%

2008

3.7

3.2

86%

China Cultivation Area in Million Hectar Total Cotton GM Cotton 4.72 0.034 5.6 3.8

GMO Ratio 0.7% 68%

Year 2002

Cultivation Area in Million Hectar Total Cotton GM Cotton 7.85 0.04

GMO Ratio 0.5%

2007

9.4

66%

Year 1998 2007 India

6.2

Year

Cultivation Area in Hectares Total Cotton GM Cotton

GMO Ratio

Argentina

1998 2007

800,000 400,000

80,000 380,000

10% 95%

Australia

1997 2007

400,000 50,000*

60,000 47,500*

15% 95%

Indonesia

2001 2003

Colombia

2002 2007

Mexico

2003 2007

South Africa

1998 2007

* estimated acreage

4

4,000 12,000 72,000

2,000 22,000

30.6%

70,000 115,000

25,000 65,000

36% 56.5%

10,000

12,000 9,000

90%

Genetically Modified Cotton

MFM, Sem 1

Acreage of cotton in million hectares worldwide and in the major growing countries

Present Senario Of Genetically modified (GM) cotton in India: India is an important grower of cotton on a global scale. It ranks third in global cotton production after the United States and China; with 8-9 million hectares grown each year, India accounts for approximately 25% of the world's total cotton area and 16% of global cotton production. Most of the cotton in India is grown under rainfed conditions, and about a third is grown under irrigation (Sundaram, Basu, Krishna Iyer, Narayanan, & Rajendran, 1999). However, yields of cotton in India are low, with an average yield of 300 kg/ha compared to the world average of 580 kg/ha. Cotton is a very important cash crop for Indian farmers and contributes around 30% to the gross domestic product of Indian agriculture. However, as with many cotton growing areas of the world, a major limiting factor is damage due to insect pests, especially the bollworm complex (American bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera; Spotted bollworm, Earias vittella; Pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossipiella). Sucking pests such as aphids (Aphis gossypii), jassids (Amrasca bigutulla), and whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) are also a problem in terms of direct damage to the plant and the transmission of viruses. In March 2002, the Indian government permitted commercial cultivation of genetically modified Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton. The Bt gene produces a protein that is toxic to bollworms. Bt cotton has now been produced in India for two seasons—2002 and 2003. In 2002, some 38,000 hectares were planted with Bt cotton, with more than 12,000 hectares being grown by more than 17,000 farmers in the state of Maharashtra. Given the scale of the cotton industry in India and the current global debates over advantages/disadvantages of GM technology, it is not surprising that 5

Genetically Modified Cotton

MFM, Sem 1

there has been considerable and vigorous debate regarding the agronomic and economic performance of Bt cotton in India with various reports claiming both successes and failures. Qaim (2003), for example, analyzed trial data from seed companies testing Bt cotton and concluded that quantities of insecticide can be reduced by about one third relative to conventional (non-Bt) varieties, and yield gains can be up to 80% in seasons with bad bollworm infestations (a typical increase may be 30-40%). However, trial data can be criticized as being untypical models of the real conditions that prevail on Indian farms, and yield benefits may as a result be far less than those projected from trials. This paper presents an analysis of data collected from a large sample of farmers growing both conventional and Bt cotton under real commercial field conditions over two seasons (2002 and 2003) since Bt cotton has been licensed for commercial use in India; this is the first such study of its kind. The paper presents a muchneeded and timely assessment of the performance of Bt cotton under typical farmer-managed conditions in India (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2004). Unlike previous Indian studies (Naik, 2001; Qaim & Zilberman, 2003; Qaim, 2003), it analyzes commercial field data rather than trial plot data. In this, it meets the recent (May 2004) FAO call for more market-based studies that will accurately reflect the agronomic and economic environments faced by growers of Bt cotton. The analysis concentrates on addressing the question as to whether Indian farmers have experienced economic gains from growing Bt hybrids released by a company affiliated with Monsanto (Mahyco-Monsanto) compared to a complex of non-Bt hybrids and cultivars. The paper explores the performance of the Bt variety, including spatial differences.

Advantages of Genetically modified (GM) cotton Genetically modified (GM) pest-resistant cotton may provide yields up to 80 per cent higher than traditional types. This has been observed by scientists from the University of Bonn and the University of California at Berkeley in field trials in India. Their conclusion: peasants in the tropics and sub-tropics can benefit substantially from GM plants. These findings are surprising, since it has hitherto only been possible to detect very minor increases in yield, if any, in similar studies in temperate climate zones such as the US and China. The researchers are publishing their results in the forthcoming issue of the prestigious journal Science (Vol. 299, No. 5608) on 7th February. The enemy is small, but greedy: the bollworm destroys a large part of the world’s cotton crop every year; farmers spray insecticide up to 20 times a year to combat this most important cotton pest. In 1997, therefore, Monsanto launched a type of cotton on the market which is largely resistant to this pest: Monsanto scientists had introduced a bacterial gene into the plant which contains the blueprint for a very specific insect poison. What is known as Bt cotton (Bt stands for the gene donor Bacillus thuringiensis) produces its insecticide itself, so to speak. On more than one third of China’s total cotton-growing area this GM type is being grown; the use of pesticides has been reduced by over 70 per cent. Pesticide pollution, which used to be the norm, has been greatly reduced. However, the yield only increased by a maximum of 10 per cent; in GM soya beans scientists have sometimes even noticed slight reductions in yield. 6

Genetically Modified Cotton

MFM, Sem 1

However, the ’pressure from pests’ in the US or China, where the studies have been taking place up to now, is considerably less than in the tropics and sub-tropics. In 2001, a successful field trial was started, involving 395 farms from seven Indian states. In three adjacent fields the farmers were to plant Bt cotton, the same sort without the resistant gene and a third type which is a popular local hybrid. The use of insecticide for the Bt cotton was on average 70 per cent less than for the two other types; however, the yield was more than 80 per cent higher. ’Despite the higher costs for the seeds, the farmers were able to increase their income five-fold with the GM type. Admittedly, infestation with bollworm was particularly high in 2001,’ Dr. Qaim cautions. ’In preliminary studies with fewer farmers between 1998 and 2001 we were able to detect an average increase in yield of 60 per cent.’ The Bt cotton findings are basically also applicable to food plants. Particularly regions in the tropics and sub-tropics, which are under severe pressure from pests could benefit from GM plants with increased pest resistance, the scientists conclude. ’We expect the biggest increases in yields to take place in South and South-East Asia and in Central and Southern Africa, i.e. precisely in those areas with the highest population growth, which are especially dependent on increasing yields.’ Even so, Qaim argues in favour of taking the potential risks of ’green genetic technology’ seriously. ’In all the previous studies

Disadvantages of Genetically modified (GM) cotton

Crops which have been Genetically Modified to resist insects kill not just the "target insect" (such as the borer or weevil) but beneficial insects (such as the Monarch butterfly).

Cotton crops which have been Genetically Modified to resist herbicides encourage the use of larger quantities of herbicide, with the effect that both weeds and beneficial plants are killed indiscriminately. These herbicides are harmful to both the environment and to humans.

Genetically Modified plants may crossbreed with wild species to produce "superweeds", which cannot be eliminated using standard herbicides.

The use of Genetically Modified Cotton encourages dependence by the farmers on a single seed supplier and may involve the purchase of both the seed and herbicide from one supplier. The farmer is then at the mercy of the seed company who may vary prices of both seed and herbicide at will.

The use of Genetically Modified Cotton reduces the number of Cotton species which are actively grown and therefore reduces biodiversity.

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Genetically Modified Cotton

MFM, Sem 1

Toxic compounds such as glyphosphate (RoundUp) and Bromoxynil are used on Genetically Modified Cotton crops. The US Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of Bromoxynil despite acknowledging "...serious concerns about developmental risks to infants and children."

The nature of genetic modification and long term effects are not well understood as these products have not been properly tested before being released into the environment. In the USA, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the use of Genetically Modified Cotton based on data supplied by the manufacturer, Monsanto.

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