Farmers to Profit More from Biotech Cotton in West Africa

Estimates of productivity of Monsanto's Bollgard II cotton in Burkina Faso from field trials indicate that growers of the biotech variety will definitely benefit from the technology. A yield advantage of 15% under conditions of low to moderate lepidopteran pest pressure was observed and the insecticide sprays were reduced by two-thirds in the Bt cotton plots.

The increased yield of the Bt cotton was computed to translate to economic gains of $79 to $154 per hectare. The actual gains however could be more as the computed figures may be underestimated due to the relatively low pest densities encountered at the research sites, says Jeffrey Vitale of Oklahoma State University and colleagues in industry who did the economic study. The highest density of the pest Helicoverpa armigera recorded during the trial period was only 4,096 insects per hectare compared to that normally observed under actual farming conditions in Burkina Faso which is about 12,000 to 17,000 insects per hectare. 

The study used data from Bollgard II Bt cotton tested by the Institut de l'Environment et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA) in Farako-Ba near the city Bobo Dioulasso, and Kouaré near the city of Fada N'gourma. INERA planted the Bt cotton with local varieties FK-37 and STAM 59 A.

For the full paper visit http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/48/5/1958.