Foreign scientists find a Bt cotton miracle

The two have reported that the average yield of Bt cotton crop in India — genetically modified to resist insects — was 80 per cent more than non-Bt and 87 per cent more than local varieties. And it also consumed only a third of the anti-bollworm pesticide needed for non-Bt cotton.

In USA and China insect-resistant cotton crops average a yield of 10-15 per cent. Why the giant leap in India?

The story started in 2001 when assistant professor Matin Qaim from the University of Bonn walked across cotton fields and chatted with farmers who dared to believe in Bt. Qaim went back to his lab with comparative data of Bt vs non-Bt crops. He worked with David Zilberman, professor of agriculture and resource economics at UC Berkeley, and the findings were reported recently in Science.

‘‘This is the first paper to show such a substantial increase in yield for bio-engineered crops. Many critics have questioned GM crops…my bottomline is that Europe and even USA can have the luxury of not utilising GMO (genetically modified organism) potential, but it can really make agriculture more productive and life better in developing, humid countries subject to severe pest damage,’’ Zilberman told The Indian Express from Berkeley.

‘‘We’ll continue our research in India on Bt cotton. A survey of farm income from Bt will start in two weeks,’’ Qaim, lead author and assistant professor, agriculture and development economics, at Bonn’s Centre for Development Research, told The Indian Express in an e-mail interview.

The authors contend that transgenic crops are lucky in developing countries with low pest control. ‘‘In USA yield effect is 10-15 per cent, but overall it is low because other technologies have been successful in controlling pests. In China, yields are higher than USA but not as drastic as India. It would be a shame if anti-GMO fears kept important technology away from those who stand to benefit most from it,’’ says Zilberman.

Qaim says India’s results are more representative of transgenic crop potential for sub-Saharan Africa or South-east Asia. ‘‘Technically we have shown that the outcome can be positive,’’ he says, after interviewing farmers, picking and analysing results from trials initiated by the Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco).

The farm sites comprised three adjacent plots of 646 sq m each. One was planted with cotton bio-engineered with a gene from the insecticidal bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and the second with the same hybrid minus the Bt gene and the third with a traditional local hybrid.

‘‘It’s a matter of interpretation,’’ M K Sharma, MD of Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (MMB), commented on the study. ‘‘There are different schools of thought. Bt cotton does not increase yield but helps in reducing losses to yield because of bollworm.’’

Qaim will continue to study Bt’s India future. ‘‘The interest among farmers for Bt is very high. We are reporting on cotton but the results are easily transferable to food crops (Bt chickpea, Bt rice) since the type of pest damage they would sustain would be the same. Seed prices are likely to fall over time with other companies and public breeding stations making the market competitive,’’ he says.

Bt cotton is resistant to three species of bollworm, which is estimated to cause 50-60 per cent crop damage in India.