Biosafety regulations to be updated to meet new demands - ICAC

11 Sep '09

1 min read

The ICAC Secretariat estimates that more than half of world cotton area was planted to biotech varieties in 2009/10, and the benefits of biotech traits in cotton are spreading to more countries and growers. As biotech cotton advances beyond agronomic traits, the current regulatory systems will be updated to meet new demands.

Research in Argentina shows that biotech seed fed to livestock does not affect either production of milk or its chemical composition. Buyers of whole seed do not differentiate between biotech and conventional seed.

Cottonseed oil finds its way into the feed chain in many forms and there is no market segmentation for cottonseed oil extracted from biotech cotton. Over 10 million tons of cottonseed meal are produced every year and almost comes from transgenic seed.

Biotechnology will play a dominant role in the development of new cotton varieties to control insects and use inputs efficiently. Much work is occurring on molecular marker assisted breeding. Researchers recommend that molecular marker assisted breeding should be propagated to deal with biotic and abiotic stresses efficiently.

International Cotton Advisory Committee

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