Advantages and Disadvantages of GMO Cotton - Essay Example

Advantages and Disadvantages of GMO Cotton Introduction Cotton is a plant that is important in making of textile. Cotton, however, has other uses apart from being the raw material in making of garments. It is a raw material for making animal feed. Many food ingredients are also derived from it. Genetically Modified (GM) cotton is grown in many countries, including China, primarily to help in the reduction of pesticide use. The article will talk about the use of GMO cotton and its advantages and disadvantages over the other cotton. Advantages and Disadvantages of GMO Cotton Advantages of GMO Cotton The growth of cotton is popular in five continents of the world. GM cotton is now widespread all over the world, and it had covered over twenty-five million hectares of land by 2013. This is equivalent to 43% of the total amount of cotton grown in the world.1 The countries that we know for producing GM cotton are the USA and India although the product also has production in China, Argentina, Australia, Mexico, South Africa, among others. The major advantage of genetically modified cotton is that the plant is resistant to insect pests. More than 68% of the genetically modified cotton in China produces a substance that helps it to become resistant to insect pests.2 It is known as "Bacillus thurengiensis" toxin. There are a few problematic pests such as caterpillars that bore the cotton itself thus hard to fight. The European Union is yet to approve submissions made for the growth and use of modified cotton.3 There are problems that farmers in India are experiencing as the Bt toxin failed to work. The Bt cotton yields declined significantly as secondary pests invaded the cotton. The trouble led to the use of more pesticides on the plant plus the price for the cotton seeds went up by a large number.4 Scientists suggest that the Bt cotton produces a number of beneficial insects which helps the small scale farmers in the production of cotton. China was the leading country in the study of the benefits of having genetically modified cotton. The toxin that is used is lethal to the bollworm that is usually a major problem for the cotton growers.5 There is a significant decline in the use of insecticides because of the reduction in the bollworm pest. The reduction in the number of pests means that the cotton produced in good health increases. An increase in the good cotton plant increases the income for the farmers. Production of cotton in China has increased considerably, and the use of the new technology can be accredited to the success. China started using genetically modified cotton in 1997 although the technology had already been introduced in the early 1990s.6 The integrated pest management has been proved to be effective due to the level of the pesticides used decreased that was encouraging the natural enemy growth. The Bt cotton was also effective in increasing the number of yields and profit to farmers in the USA and India. Disadvantages of GMO Cotton The increase in yields for the Bt cotton has significantly dropped from 2002 to 2012. Experts are suggesting that the increase in yield of cotton over the last decade cannot be attributed solely to the use of Bt cotton. The experts are suggesting that Bt cotton has only contributed to 2% of the increase in the general increase in cotton production.7 Improvement in infrastructure and the use of hybrid seeds are what have contributed to the increase in the cotton yields around the world. Some regions in the Southeast of India have seen a total failure on the use of genetically modified cotton. The government of India is suggesting that 70% of the land in the region had Bt cotton, and they experienced a 50% loss in production of the cotton. The decrease in yields from the cotton is worrying the Indian government as they expected the use of Bt cotton to increase the yields of the product drastically.8 The failure can, however, be attributed to India using poor quality seeds and the fact that the technology of Bt cotton cannot be well adopted in the Indian environment.9 Experts from cotton growing countries have suggested there has been a great impact on the use of Bt cotton on human health as well as the livestock. Farmers across India have a report on the sickness and death of their animal after the animals grazed in fields where Bt-cotton had been cleared. A report that the local farmers and research-based groups carried out suggests that around two thousand sheep from four different villages died after feeding on the land where Bt cotton was being cultivated.10 There has been no survey officially from the government to study the mortality rates and levels of animals in areas where there are Bt cotton fields. The farmers who work in the cotton fields have also had numerous complaints regarding skin and allergic reactions from working on the Bt cotton fields.11 There have been several studies conducted by independent scientists and civil societies regarding this type of complaints. There has however been no official communication from India’s government regarding the complaints from farmers regarding their reaction to working on the Bt cotton fields. The studies and complaints thus cannot be made official unless there is prove that the livestock and people are reacting and dying due to the genetically modified cotton. The introduction of Bt cotton to the market had a principal purpose of reducing the number of pesticides that the farmers had to use on their cotton plantations. The Bt cotton produces its toxin that helps prevent pests like the bollworm. The pests have however developed a resistance to the Bt cotton thus leading to the increase in the amount of pesticides that the farmers are supposed to use.12 There was a release of second generation Bt cotton in 2006 whose intention was to curb the pest resistance problem. The secondary pests that the Bt cotton cannot prevent are becoming a problem for the farmers. The reduction of the bollworm pests in the cotton farms have led to the increase of the secondary pests. The pests did not pose a threat to the cotton initially before the introduction of the genetically modified cotton in the early 1990s.13 The parasites have become more prevalent now that the bollworm is no longer a threat to the cotton plants. Farmers have to use highly toxic pesticides to curb the problem of the increase in the number of secondary pests.14 The Bt cotton requires the Bt seeds that farmers around the world are complaining of being too expensive. The seeds are between three to eight times expensive compared to the regular or the hybrid seeds that other farmers are using in their farms. The prices have significantly gone up, and they are much expensive from what the farmers used to get them at two decades ago.15 The increase in the use of pesticides means the increase in the price of maintaining the cotton fields. The secondary pests prove to be very disadvantageous to the farmers who spend much money on the pesticides.16 The farmers are feeling the pinch in some countries like India where the growth of Bt cotton does not meet their expectations. The Bt cotton has brought much distress to the farmers as the method seems too expensive for them to handle. Conclusion The growth of genetically modified cotton for producing textile and other products has its advantages and disadvantages. The Bt cotton was a United States invention, and it seems to work very well for the people there unlike the disappointments farmers in India are getting for the same product. The purpose of the Bt cotton was to reduce the pests on the cotton thus increase production. The product has worked wonders in some regions and has not met the expectations of farmers in other areas. Bibliography Choudhary, Bhagirath and Gaur, Kadambini. Bt cotton in India: A country profile. Ithaca, New York: International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), 2010. James, Clive. Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2011. Ithaca, New York: International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application (ISAAA), 2012. Kathage, Jonas and Qaim, Matin. “Economic impacts and impact dynamics of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton in India.” Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences of USA 109, no. 29 (2012):11652–11656. Lang, Susan. Seven-year glitch: Cornell warns that Chinese GM cotton farmers are losing money due to 'secondary' pests. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2006. Lu Yanhui, Wu Kongmin, Jiang Yuynan, et al. Widespread adoption of Bt cotton and insecticide decrease promotes biocontrol services. London: Nature Publishing Group, 2012. Walsh, Bryan. “Modifying the Endless Debate over Genetically Modified Crops.” Time Magazine. 2013. Read More