To Bt or not to Bt...

Confusion, controversy and additional costs face cotton growers in India and Uganda. In both countries cotton is a major cash crop and, to escape the escalating costs of chemical pest control, farmers have been attracted to planting Bt seed, which has in-built pest resistance against the cotton bollworm. (Bt varieties include genetic material from Bacillus thuringiensis).

In Gujarat, India, where some 2000 hectares of Bt cotton were planted this year, the central government has instructed the State to ensure that all of the GM cotton is burned. In Uganda, NARO (National Agricultural Research Organisation) and UNSCT (Uganda National Council for Science and Technology) are locked in heated disagreement over the benefits and risks of introducing genetically modified cotton (and other crops) into the country. The common factor is the anticipated increase in yield and reduction in production costs offered by seed from Monsanto, the company that developed Bt cotton.

About half of India's cotton acreage succumbs to bollworm each year, and Bt cotton offers obvious benefits; while in Uganda, the new Bt cotton is expected to be not only pest and disease resistant but for the seed to have a higher oil content. However, the sale of transgenic crops has yet to be approved in both countries, although approval for the commercial production of Bt cotton had been expected in India by the end of 2001. And, having anticipated getting clearance, growers in Gujarat have naturally been incensed by instructions, given at the point of harvest, to destroy their cotton. Especially so, since it is not clear if or how the farmers will be compensated for their lost crops.

The controversy in India has taken an unexpected legal twist with India's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) prosecuting Navbharat Seeds, the local company that supplied the seeds, while the company claims that the seeds were not genetically modified but merely a conventional hybrid variety. Moreover, the farmers in Gujarat say that they purchased the seeds not knowing that they were genetically modified. Reports also point to Bt cotton being grown in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.

In Uganda, in October, UNCST rejected the importation of Bt seeds at a national workshop for stakeholders in biotechnology and bio-safety in Kampala, where there were very heated exchanges between UNCST and NARO representatives. There was a demand that GM products must be critically screened before importation, with Dr J.F.Kaule of UNCST saying that although Bt cotton could fight off most pests (as stressed by NARO), he wondered what would happen if the modified crop turned out to kill all other insects and birds on farms, resulting in a environmental disaster, reports Ben Ochan. The Council Executive Secretary of UNCST, Dr Z.M.Nyiira, also said that UNCST was not satisfied with NARO's explanations about the cotton seeds and that the most important information required, the safety of the cotton when grown in Uganda, had not been obtained from Monsanto, as requested by the Council. "We cannot act on any decision or change our stand unless our technical fears about the safety of the cotton are put to rest", he said. The Director General of NARO, Prof. Joseph Mukiibi, is consulting with Monsanto to have the cotton locally tested and approved, and trials with Monsanto's Bt cotton are scheduled to be conducted at Serere Agricultural Research Institute in Soroti, eastern Uganda.

While the impasse awaits resolution through satisfactory trial results in Uganda, there appears to be continuing confusion over the central government's stand on GM technology in India. The Indian government has repeatedly professed its commitment to biotechnology, which it sees as a 'sunrise sector', but its actions do not appear to match its words, writes Pushpraj Singh. The GEAC, met earlier this year to approve GM cotton, asked for another year of trials, giving insufficient data as the reason for deferred approval. This decision is causing concern in India since decisions will also have to be taken on other GM crops, including mustard, another important crop in India. It is estimate that currently GM crops are grown in 15 or more countries over an acreage that is said to have multiplied 30-fold since 1996. With many countries adopting a clear-cut approach to GM crops, in India there seems to be confusion between policies and their implementation.

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