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	View Edit Domain: GreenBio Title: * Body: The best advertisement for Bt brinjal is said to be the agronomic success of Bt cotton, the only genetically modified crop to have so far been commercially cultivated in India. <br /> <br /> For all the alleged scare-mongering , government figures suggest that farmers have displayed faith in Bt cotton ever since it was released in 2002. About 90 per cent of cotton farming in the country has switched to GM technology and the productivity has more than doubled (from 136 lakh bales in 2002-03 to a high of 315 lakh bales in 2007-08 ). The upshot is, India has grown from a net importer to the second largest exporter of cotton, displacing the US, the very country where the GM technology was pioneered.<br /> <br /> On the face of it, such a dramatic transformation in the cotton segment (and its resultant boost to the textile industry) should have settled the debate in favour of biotechnology. Especially since Bt cotton was sold mainly as an alternative to pesticide sprays and its performance seems to have resulted in greater marketable yield. But the prospect now of introducing a GM food in the form of Bt Brinjal has brought the Bt cotton issue under critical scrutiny.<br /> <br /> There are conflicting views on whether farmers across the county have taken to Bt cotton on their own or have been left with no option as the industry led by American MNC Monsanto has withdrawn the non-GM seed from the market.<br /> <br /> Monsanto India's director Gyanendra Shukla, when contacted, said, "Farmers, like any consumer, are in constant search of superior value. Their repeated cultivation of Bt cotton is testament to the benefits they derived from it."<br /> <br /> Another serious allegation against Bt cotton is that over the years, its claim of reducing pesticide usage has proved false. While activists cite a study done by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences on suicides among cotton farmers, seed producers rebut it with a finding from the government-run National Centre for Integrated Pest Management (NCIPM). Giving a macro picture, NCIPM said that while cotton consumed 54 per cent of the total pesticide sprayed in India in 1996, the corresponding figure for 2007 dropped to 35 per cent bearing out the efficacy of the by then widely prevalent Bt cotton.<br /> <br /> However, one problem that is admitted by Monsanto is that the targeted pests could develop resistance to Bt cotton if the farmer did not pay heed to its instruction of a maintaining a "refuge" of non-Bt crop. Every Bt cotton farm is required to have a 20 per cent refuge of non-Bt seeds. Since this safeguard is, however, observed more in the breach, one option is to adopt the strategy mooted in the US of "refuge in a bag" in which the two types of seeds are mixed before being sold. <br /> <br /> Copyright ©2010 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.<br /> Captcha: Please Enter Code : * Time Zone: * Select the time zone Vocabularies Newsletter: Domain: Show summary in full view Input format Filtered HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Full HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. news_filter Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. More information about formatting options			Related Articles Cabinet likely to take up biotech authority bill today Agriculture biotech increases at RTP How India became a Bt Cotton country Indian govt urged to support Pakistan get GSP Plus status GM cotton genes found in wild species New study reignites debate over GMO safety Bt corn farms expanding Cotton stainer, future threat to Pakistan Scientists Refute Claim That Genetically Modified Corn Cause... Farmers battle a super-bug Top GreenBio Articles

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