ICAC says BT cotton area rising in the world

13 Jan '06

3 min read

International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) stated that biotech cotton (BT cotton) varieties were planted on an estimated 9.7 million hectares in seven countries in 2005/06, accounting for 28 percent of world cotton area this season.

The average yield with biotech varieties is estimated at 967 kilograms of lint per hectare, compared with a world yield estimated at 725 kg/ha. Many factors affect cotton yields, including the availability of irrigation, insect pressure, fertilizer use and other factors.

Nevertheless, biotech varieties appear to confer advantages in efforts to raise yields. Biotech cotton will account for approximately 37 percent of world cotton production and trade in 2005/06.

The US was the first country in which biotech cotton varieties were approved for commercial production in 1996, and area planted to biotech varieties in the US increased to 82 percent of 5.5 million hectares in 2005/06.

Herbicide-resistant and stacked gene varieties having both herbicide and insecticide resistant characters accounted for 90 percent of US biotech cotton area in 2005. Pure insect resistant varieties were planted on less than 10 percent of the US biotech cotton area.

Herbicide resistant varieties are also popular in Australia, but outside of the US and Australia, insect resistant cotton varieties account for a majority of biotech use. In China (Mainland), biotech varieties were planted on 70 percent of the total cotton area this season.

The cotton area planted to biotech varieties that have been developed in China continues to grow and reached almost 90 percent of the Chinese biotech area. Other countries where biotech varieties were planted on over half of the total cotton area are Australia, Colombia, Mexico and South Africa.

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