03 June 2010
THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE
Dear Friends and colleagues,
Re: Surge in Pests Around Bt Cotton Farms in China
A long-term Chinese state laboratory field assessment of Bt cotton effects on non-target pests in cotton-growing regions in northern China has confirmed that cultivation of the transgenic crop has led to a population explosion of mirid bugs. The 10 year-long study found that the previously minor pest has increased 12-fold in six major cotton-growing regions since 1997, the year the Chinese government approved the commercial planting of Bt cotton.
It concluded that the elevation of the mirid to main pest status is associated with the expansion of Bt cotton cultivation, prompting the scientists call for a critical assessment of the impacts of GM crop adoption.
The findings also vindicated an earlier study by an economist at Cornell University, which warned that economic benefits of Bt cotton are cancelled out eventually by an increase in pesticide use to deal with secondary pests. That study was dismissed by the biotech industry for its relatively small sample size. But the Chinese research covered 3 million ha of cotton fields and 26 million ha of various other croplands.
Led by entomologist Dr Wu Kongming of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, the team predicted that farmers would soon spray as much pesticide as they used to before the introduction of Bt cotton to control the bugs. Bt cotton was sold to the farmers with the promise of eliminating the use of pesticide thus providing significant cost-savings.
Dr Wu warned that mirids could reduce cotton yields as much as 50%, besides becoming a threat to other crops such as green beans, cereals, vegetables and various fruits. The infestations, according to the Chinese scientists, are potentially catastrophic for the 10 million small-scale farmers cultivating 26 million ha in the region studied.
With best wishes,
Third World Network
131 Jalan Macalister,
10400 Penang,
Malaysia
Email: twnet@po.jaring.my
Website: www.biosafety-info.net and www.twnside.org.sg
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