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

22 Jun '05

4 min read

Brazil, the world's fifth-largest cotton-grower, will probably become the largest growth market for biotech cotton after the government officially approved the release of genetically modified varieties in March, Rabobank said.

The uptake is likely to be quick,'' the bank said. ``The inherent cost savings will encourage the use of GM seed'' and strengthen the South American country's cotton exports.

There is probably only enough of Monsanto's so-called Bollgard I, or BT1, seed to grow biotech crops across less than 10 percent of Brazil's cotton crop in the year starting July 1, said Haroldo Cunha, president of the Goias Cotton Growers Association. Goias is Brazil's third-largest cotton producing state.

Seed Shortage
``They don't have enough seeds'' for the planting season that starts in November, Cunha said in an interview in Shanghai. ``You have to have the seeds adapted to our conditions. Now that BT1 is approved, the approvals for the other varieties will come faster.''

The proportion of Brazil's cotton planted with BT1 and other gene-modified varieties may climb to 20 the following year, Cunha said. The seeds reduce farmers' expenditure on pesticides, allowing them reduce production costs by as much as 20 percent, he said.

The cost of producing a pound of cotton in Brazil has risen to 50 U.S. cents from 43 U.S. cents two years ago, partly as higher energy prices drove up the cost of ammonia and other fertilizof of ammonia and other fertilizers, said Andrew Macdonald, who advises cotton growers in Mato Grosso, Brazil's largest cotton-producing state.

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