After eight years of uninterrupted success, Bt Cotton seems to have run into trouble in Gujarat. Scientists of Monsanto, the multinational giant that developed Bt Cotton in India with Mahyco, have detected unusual survival of pink bollworm (a pest) while monitoring the 2009 cotton crop in Gujarat.
Pink bollworm was found in the cotton crop of Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagarh and Rajkot districts. These districts had reportedly started using Bt Cotton illegally since 1998, four years before the genetically modified variety of cotton was launched for commercial use in the country.
Scientists have found unusual survival of pink bollworm to first-generation single-protein Bollgard cotton. Testing was conducted to assess resistance to Cry1Ac, the Bt protein in Bollgard cotton. Similarly pink bollworm resistance to Cry1Ac was confirmed in the four districts.
Gujarat is one of the nine states in India where cotton is grown. To date, no insect resistance to Cry1Ac has been confirmed outside the four districts in Gujarat. It has been reported to the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC),” a statement issued by Monsanto said. There was no reason for an alarm, it was only an alert, the statement added.
“Current monitoring efforts by an Indian expert network to manage insect resistance will be expanded. The network is led by director of Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR). He has been nominated by GEAC. The network will continue to conduct extensive insect monitoring, encourage appropriate stewardship practices such as proper refuge planting through an intensified farmer education campaign, and explore new methods of refuge seed delivery,” the statement further said.
Meanwhile, activists who have been following the commercial use of Bt Cotton in India since 2002, alleged that studies conducted by CICR had found in 2005 that resistance of Bt Cotton goes down after some time. “That is exactly what has happened in the four Gujarat districts,” said Kavitha Kuruganti of Kheti Virasat Mission.
