ChangingCottonLandscapeNeilForrester

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eview and will not be discussed further here except to say there should be more research on WUE (Water Use Efficiency) in cotton in Pakistan. Consider the following figures 4 : WUE in Australia - 227 kg lint produced per megalitre of water used WUE in Egypt - 136 kg lint produced per megalitre of water used WUE in Pakistan - 50 kg lint produced per megalitre of water used There is certainly lots of room for improvement in WUE in Pakistan. 2.6 Bollworms Bollworms and armyworms have been a consistent but variable constraint on cotton production in Pakistan requiring in most years 4 to 5 sprays. Up until the last couple of years, these have been controlled with varying levels of success by conventional synthetic insecticides. With the wide scale introduction of unauthorized MON 531 cotton (effectively Bollgard 1 cotton), the pest status of the majority of these pests in cotton has declined. There are a number of insecticide tolerant technologies currently available in cotton from multiple technology suppliers and some which will become available in the near term. Currently available insect tolerance cotton technologies are: 1) Monsanto’s (MON 531) Bollgard 1 – introduced in the US and Australia in 1996, contains Cry 1Ac protein from Bacillus thuringiensis. It is effective on a range of lepidopteran (chewing caterpillar) pests, including all the main ones in cotton (American bollworm, spiny and spotted bollworms and pink bollworm) but is only marginally effective on Spodoptera armyworm. It has high efficacy for around 100 days after planting, thereafter efficacy gradually declines; so some supplementary spraying may still be required, depending on pest pressure. MON 531 was brought into Pakistan unofficially and backcrossed into local germplasm. It has been adopted widely across the whole of the Pakistan cotton belt and would account now for around 80% of the cotton plantings in Sindh province and around 60% in the Punjab. MON 531 has not yet been approved by the Pakistan regulatory authorities so it currently has unauthorized regulatory status, although there are now efforts to rectify this situation. Monsanto never applied for a patent on MON 531 in Pakistan so it is legal to use Bollgard 1 technology in Pakistan. The situation on exports of textile products made from lint from unpatented Bollgard 1 cotton grown in Pakistan into countries where MON 531 has patent protection, has been examined in detail by the Government of Punjab Task Force on Promotion of Bt Cotton in Punjab (June 2008 – 4 Irrigation of Cotton – The ICAC Recorder Vol 21(4) Dec 2003 pp. 4-9 24
Findings & Recommendations). Their conclusion is that the case law studies so far indicate that MON 531 protection in North America and the EU (where it is patented), does not extend to import of products made from cotton plants containing Bt genes. Their conclusion on this is quote: “It is now crystal clear that in the absence of patent protection on MON 531, plant breeders and molecular biologists have a legitimate right (without jeopardizing Pakistan’s commercial interests in export markets) to use MON 531 for improvement of cotton and other crops in Pakistan.” 2) Monsanto’s (MON 15985) Bollgard 2 – introduced in the US and Australia in 2002, contains Cry 1Ac and Cry 2Ab proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis. This certainly improved efficacy longevity and the range of pests controlled (now much more effective on Spodoptera armyworms), as well as greatly enhancing the potential durability of the technology from a Resistance Management perspective. Monsanto has broadly out-licensed this technology which is also patented in Pakistan. 3) Dow’s WideStrike® – introduced in the US in 2004, contains Cry 1Ac and Cry 1F proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis. WideStrike® has not yet been commercialized outside the US but Dow has done some cross-licensing deals with Monsanto. Efficacy on New World Heliothis virescens has been excellent but it is unclear yet how well it will work on Old World bollworms. 4) Chinese Bt – introduced in China in 1997 by Biocentury from research out of the CAAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences). Two technologies were introduced: a single gene product (a ‘fused’ Cry 1Ac/Cry 1Ab gene from Bacillus thuringiensis) and a 2-gene stacked product also containing CpTi (a trypsin inhibitor from cowpea). It is unclear if the 2-gene product is still being sold but there are claims that the single Cry 1Ac/1Ab-fusion gene technology accounts for around 80% of Bt cotton sales in China. However, Monsanto’s Bollgard 1 technology was also commercialised at the same time as the CAAS technology so it is almost impossible to accurately determine the surviving technology mix in China’s current varieties. Biocentury has also just received permission to commercialise its Cry 1Ac/Cry 1Ab-fusion technology in Indian cotton hybrids and is actively pursuing other markets and licensees. There have been mixed reports on efficacy of the Chinese Bts. 5) Indian Bt – introduced in India in 2007 by the local Indian seed company JK Agrigenetics. This is single gene insect tolerant cotton utilising a modified Cry 1Ac protein from Bacillus thuringiensis developed by the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur. Efficacy is unknown. 25
Page 1: Changing the Cotton Landscape in Pa
Page 5: Preface The importance of improving
Page 8 and 9: Acronyms AARI Ayub Agricultural Res
Page 10 and 11: Millions of Bales (170 kgs) Yield (
Page 12 and 13: Millions of bales (170 kgs) 35.0 30
Page 14 and 15: 4.1b/year in extra lint, oil and me
Page 16 and 17: CLCV susceptible variety in the Ind
Page 18 and 19: (Feb/March) of part of their cotton
Page 20 and 21: The following table presents data o
Page 22 and 23: 96.1%, respectively). High levels o
Page 24 and 25: for transgenic seed production othe
Page 26 and 27: 2) Ensure all private seed sector c
Page 28 and 29: Logistical problems It will be very
Page 30 and 31: the introduction of Roundup Ready F
Page 34 and 35: Following is a list of insect toler
Page 36 and 37: The key factors affecting the devel
Page 38 and 39: • Disease tolerance, especially F
Page 40 and 41: whatever natural refuges are availa
Page 42 and 43: The models above clearly indicate t
Page 44 and 45: 7. Summary of Recommendations 1) En
Page 46 and 47: case, we need to carefully examine
Page 48 and 49: Stakeholders Engaged for this Study

ChangingCottonLandscapeNeilForrester

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