Bt cotton Replaces Indigenous Varieties in Flag-making
Background
The staple in indigenous varieties of cotton is shorter than Bt cotton, the official explained on the choice of cotton. The plant, a unit of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, supplies about 1,000 kg cleaned (after a process called roving, to remove dust particles and short fibres) cotton to Garaga Kshetriya Seva Sangh in Dharwad that till 2008 was the sole flag-making unit in the country. The cotton is then hand spun to yarn using a charkha and woven into khadi on handloom. However, Suresh V. Davande, Secretary of KSS, said that he was not aware of the Bt cotton being supplied. At the Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha at Bengeri where flag making started in 2008, the tricolour is manufactured using khadi made out of a combination of Jayadhar and Bt cotton.
India and Bt Cotton
The data, based on estimates for the year 2010-11, shows that out ofa total area of 111.42 lakh hectares under cotton cultivation, 98.54 lakh hectares are under Bt Cotton, of which Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are the top producers, with 105, 88 and 53 lakh bales of cotton respectively, and 81%, 92% and 98% of their total cotton cultivation area under Bt cotton. Since 2002, Bt cotton has steadily prevailed over India’s cotton fields. Before being legally approved, farmers in Gujarat and Maharashtra were already against this new kind of cotton seed, which, for a higher price, promised pest resistance against a particularly belligerent pest, the white bollworm, and reduced spraying of cotton pesticides. Bt cotton dramatically changed the relationship between farmer and seed. Before Bt, less than 40% seeds used were hybrids. Now over 90% Bt seeds are
Aug 12, 2013
The Indian tricolour may have lost its indigenous connection with the ‘desi’ cotton variety, with the use of Bt cotton — a proprietary technology of an American seed company.
Jayadhar, a popular variety of cotton grown in Karnataka that was also earlier used in making flags, has been replaced by Bt cotton.
Now, flag-making units at Bengeri in Hubli city and Garaga in Dharwad district, which meet the nationwide demand for the tricolour, have been using wholly or partly the khadi derived from Bt cotton.
Quality of cotton is determined by length, strength and appearance, and Bt cotton is found to provide all these qualities
used. Although making hybrid seeds is a laborious, technical and costly process, these varieties are a result of generations of selective breeding.
On the surface, anti GM activists usually stress the toxicity and the ‘contaminative’ aspects of Bt seeds to push for its ban, but it is really this corporatisation of seed that is at the heart of most friction between activists and crop companies who are now pushing for Bt to be introduced in other plants such as brinjal. It isn’t clear whether paying for hybrid seeds with the Bt gene in it will be as remunerative in brinjal or tomatoes as it is said to be in cotton.
What is Bt Cotton?
The Bt cotton is a genetically modified variety of cotton producing an insecticide. It is produced by Monsanto. The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) naturally produces a chemical harmful only to a small fraction of insects, most notably the larvae of moths and butterflies, beetles, and flies, and is harmless to other forms of life. The gene coding for Bt toxin has been inserted into cotton, causing cotton to produce this natural insecticide in its tissues. In many regions, the main pest in commercial cotton is the lepidopteran larvae, which is killed by the Bt protein in the transgenic cotton it eats. This eliminates the need to use large amounts of broad-spectrum insecticides to kill lepidopteran pests (some of which have developed pyrethroid resistance). This spares natural insect predators in the farm ecology and further contributes to pest management without use of chemical pesticides.
However, Bt cotton is ineffective against many cotton pests, such as plant bugs, stink bugs, and aphids; depending on circumstances, it may still be desirable to use insecticides against these. A 2006 study done by Cornell researchers and the Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy and the Chinese Academy of Science on Bt cotton farming in China found that after seven years, these secondary pests that were normally controlled by pesticide had increased, necessitating the use of pesticides at similar levels to non-Bt cotton, reducing profit for farmers because of the extra expense of GM seeds.
Questions
What is Bt Cotton? Is it a successful replacement for traditional varieties?
Why have alternate varieties of cotton evoked strong responses in India?
Describe the pros and cons of introducing Genetically Modified Organisms into an ecosystem.
References
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/bt-cotton-replaces-indigenous-varieties-in-flagmaking/article5013506.ece
http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/NZIDje22uiFUoskfs9FD5M/How-India-became-a-Bt-Cotton-country.html
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-08-16/india/41416828_1_bt-cotton-seed-companies-bengal-desi
http://www.isaaa.org/resources/videos/btcotton/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bt_cotton
Background
The staple in indigenous varieties of cotton is shorter than Bt cotton, the official explained on the choice of cotton. The plant, a unit of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, supplies about 1,000 kg cleaned (after a process called roving, to remove dust particles and short fibres) cotton to Garaga Kshetriya Seva Sangh in Dharwad that till 2008 was the sole flag-making unit in the country. The cotton is then hand spun to yarn using a charkha and woven into khadi on handloom. However, Suresh V. Davande, Secretary of KSS, said that he was not aware of the Bt cotton being supplied. At the Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha at Bengeri where flag making started in 2008, the tricolour is manufactured using khadi made out of a combination of Jayadhar and Bt cotton.
India and Bt Cotton
The data, based on estimates for the year 2010-11, shows that out ofa total area of 111.42 lakh hectares under cotton cultivation, 98.54 lakh hectares are under Bt Cotton, of which Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are the top producers, with 105, 88 and 53 lakh bales of cotton respectively, and 81%, 92% and 98% of their total cotton cultivation area under Bt cotton. Since 2002, Bt cotton has steadily prevailed over India’s cotton fields. Before being legally approved, farmers in Gujarat and Maharashtra were already against this new kind of cotton seed, which, for a higher price, promised pest resistance against a particularly belligerent pest, the white bollworm, and reduced spraying of cotton pesticides. Bt cotton dramatically changed the relationship between farmer and seed. Before Bt, less than 40% seeds used were hybrids. Now over 90% Bt seeds are
Aug 12, 2013
The Indian tricolour may have lost its indigenous connection with the ‘desi’ cotton variety, with the use of Bt cotton — a proprietary technology of an American seed company.
Jayadhar, a popular variety of cotton grown in Karnataka that was also earlier used in making flags, has been replaced by Bt cotton.
Now, flag-making units at Bengeri in Hubli city and Garaga in Dharwad district, which meet the nationwide demand for the tricolour, have been using wholly or partly the khadi derived from Bt cotton.
Quality of cotton is determined by length, strength and appearance, and Bt cotton is found to provide all these qualities
used. Although making hybrid seeds is a laborious, technical and costly process, these varieties are a result of generations of selective breeding.
On the surface, anti GM activists usually stress the toxicity and the ‘contaminative’ aspects of Bt seeds to push for its ban, but it is really this corporatisation of seed that is at the heart of most friction between activists and crop companies who are now pushing for Bt to be introduced in other plants such as brinjal. It isn’t clear whether paying for hybrid seeds with the Bt gene in it will be as remunerative in brinjal or tomatoes as it is said to be in cotton.
What is Bt Cotton?
The Bt cotton is a genetically modified variety of cotton producing an insecticide. It is produced by Monsanto. The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) naturally produces a chemical harmful only to a small fraction of insects, most notably the larvae of moths and butterflies, beetles, and flies, and is harmless to other forms of life. The gene coding for Bt toxin has been inserted into cotton, causing cotton to produce this natural insecticide in its tissues. In many regions, the main pest in commercial cotton is the lepidopteran larvae, which is killed by the Bt protein in the transgenic cotton it eats. This eliminates the need to use large amounts of broad-spectrum insecticides to kill lepidopteran pests (some of which have developed pyrethroid resistance). This spares natural insect predators in the farm ecology and further contributes to pest management without use of chemical pesticides.
However, Bt cotton is ineffective against many cotton pests, such as plant bugs, stink bugs, and aphids; depending on circumstances, it may still be desirable to use insecticides against these. A 2006 study done by Cornell researchers and the Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy and the Chinese Academy of Science on Bt cotton farming in China found that after seven years, these secondary pests that were normally controlled by pesticide had increased, necessitating the use of pesticides at similar levels to non-Bt cotton, reducing profit for farmers because of the extra expense of GM seeds.
Questions
What is Bt Cotton? Is it a successful replacement for traditional varieties?
Why have alternate varieties of cotton evoked strong responses in India?
Describe the pros and cons of introducing Genetically Modified Organisms into an ecosystem.
References
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/bt-cotton-replaces-indigenous-varieties-in-flagmaking/article5013506.ece
http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/NZIDje22uiFUoskfs9FD5M/How-India-became-a-Bt-Cotton-country.html
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-08-16/india/41416828_1_bt-cotton-seed-companies-bengal-desi
http://www.isaaa.org/resources/videos/btcotton/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bt_cotton
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