Bt Cotton Creates Three Times the Earnings for Indian Farmer

Biotech crop could boost living standards for millions. When Mahalingappa Shankarikoppa saw the advertisement in the newspaper seeking farmers to test a new variety of cotton, he jumped at the opportunity. For years, bollworms had been damaging his small crop, sometimes devouring up to 80 percent of the cotton planted on about two acres of land on his farm in the southern state of Karnataka, where India's highest quality cotton is grown. In the field trials, Shankarikoppa was impressed by the yield gains and reduced spraying from the biotech seeds supplied by Mayhco, the Indian biotech company that is partially owned by Monsanto. Since then, the Indian government has approved three hybrids of biotech cotton for commercial planting. Shankarikoppa was one of the first to plant biotech cotton commercially. "With biotech cotton, I make two to three times what I used to with the old, traditional seeds," Shankarikoppa said. "And I spray 80 percent less now than I did before." For Shankarikoppa, who has spent most of his 74 years farming, the new seeds represent one of the most dramatic agricultural improvements he has ever witnessed. Yields have more than doubled — from about 1,320 pounds per acre using conventional cotton to 3,306 pounds per acre using biotech varieties. In response to yield gains like this, farmers throughout India are turning to Bt seeds, which are enhanced with a naturally occurring soil protein -- Bacillus thuringiensis -- to ward off bollworm pests. "Farmers are most interested in growing Bt cotton," Shankarikoppa said. In 2003, more than 247,000 acres of Bt cotton were planted in India — double the area in 2002, the first year biotech cotton was approved for commercial planting, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications. While that still represents just about 1 percent of the 22.2 million acres (9 million hectares) of cotton planted in India, the government hopes that this new technology will help improve living standards for a wide cross-section of the Indian population. India has an estimated 4 million cotton farmers, and some 60 million people depend on cotton and the textile industry to make a living. Textiles, in fact, are India's No. 1 export, accounting for about $8.5 billion in revenue. For more information please click "here":[ http://www.whybiotech.com/index.asp?id=4515].

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