GM crops to account for half the world's cotton production

22 Jun '05

4 min read

Switzerland based agricultural organization announced that the half of the cotton crops may come from GM.

More than half the world's cotton may be grown from genetically modified crops within two years as farmers in India and Brazil embrace the technology that promises to raise incomes and boost output, Rabobank Groep said.

Increased usage of Monsanto Co.'s Bollgard II and other gene- altered varieties may propel the proportion of cotton grown from biotech crops to more than 50 percent by 2006-07 from about 35 percent now, Utrecht, Netherlands-based Rabobank said in an e- mailed report yesterday.

Scientists have developed cotton varieties that repel grubs and other pests, requiring less pesticide. A smaller chemical bill can lower farmers' costs of production, boosting their incomes. Rising sales of the biotechnology in countries such as Brazil may bolster supplies amid a global glut of the fiber.

``The expansion of GM production, particularly in regions which already operate under a fairly low-cost production system, will have long-term implications upon the marginal cost of production and, subsequently, prices,'' Rabobank said in a May cotton industry report.

Prices on the New York Board of Trade, the world's biggest cotton futures market, slumped 40 percent last year after larger crops in the U.S. and China swelled global supplies. Global output may exceed consumption by 2.5 million tons in the year ending July 31, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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