THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE

Dear Friends and colleagues,

RE: Organic Cotton Shows More Economic Benefits

Organic cotton farmers in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have reportedly earned higher net income than farmers who grew Bt cotton. The latter, despite using more pesticides, also faced greater crop loss from pests attacks.

These findings are made in a new report by Greenpeace titled "Picking Cotton - The choice between organic and genetically-engineered cotton for farmers in South India." The results can be instructive for situations elsewhere as the conditions faced by the Bt cotton farmers interviewed in the study are similar to those faced by the majority of Bt cotton farmers in other parts of India as well as other developing countries. 

One reason for the higher income for organic cotton farmers is that unlike Bt cotton growers, they tend to avoid depending solely on cotton as source of income. However, the trend is towards higher crop diversity as a whole (and therefore more income sources) and less on cash-crops, in this case cotton. 

Because organic farmers incur less input costs, they are also less vulnerable to high debts and high risk of household financial collapse which are often faced by GM cotton growers especially during a bad season.

"This case study shows the economic stability and benefit for Indian farmers of farming cotton organically and without genetic engineering and toxic chemicals," says the report.

The report is available at: http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/ge/Resources/Reports/picking-cotton/

With best wishes,

Third World Network
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