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10 BIO LIFE January – March 2005
Bt cotton:
an alternative
high-value crop
By GAMALIEL TEJADA
‘H
OW much will I gain if I plant cotton’
is the immediate question of a farmer
enjoined to grow cotton by a field worker of
the Cotton Development Administration
(CODA). It’s not surprising that this becomes
the primary concern: as the cost of fertilizers,
chemicals and labor escalates, farmers
want to squeeze whatever meager profit they
can out of growing a certain crop, be it cotton,
tobacco, rice, or corn.
Under current practice in growing cotton,
the net cash income is as low as P1,250
a hectare. This is based on the 2001/2002
cotton season’s national average seed cotton
yield of 1,030 kilograms, total production
cash cost of P20,350 a hectare, and P20
a kilogram of seed cotton.
While a homegrown technology for growing
cotton is in place to obtain optimum yield
and income, farmers are going beyond
what’s recommended, especially in pest control.
Cotton bollworm, the most destructive
of cotton pests, accounts for a big chunk of
total pest-control budget. A cotton farmer
would often spray pesticides 8-11 times in
one hectare—which costs him P6,400.
Besides entailing high cost, this practice
of extensive spraying puts the farmer,
his family and community at risk. The danger
to the environment of non-judicious
use of chemicals has been extensively
documented here and abroad——contaminated
water supply, air pollution, not
to mention the resulting health ailments,
among others.
The increasing problems from chemical
use have prodded scientists to keep seeking
efficient and safer means of production
in agriculture and fishery.
One noteworthy product of this endeavor
is a biotechnology product called Bt cotton.
Transgenic plant
Bt cotton is a transgenic plant, i.e., developed
through genetic engineering. With
its built-in ability to control the cotton bollworm
and other sucking pests, it has highly
improved cotton production in 16 Bt cottongrowing
countries, among them Australia,
Canada, Argentina, India, Indonesia, Thailand
and the United States. Higher productivity
and greater socioeconomic advantages
are among the documented benefits.
The Philippines is in a position to enjoy
similar benefits with the commercial planting
of Bt cotton. Calculations made by CODA
experts——toxicologist Dr. Aida Solsoloy,
and Dr. Edison C. Rinen, breeder and director
of the Cotton Research Center—show
that introducing Bt cotton in the country will
increase farm level yield to 3,000 kilograms
per hectare; reduce cost of chemicals to
P1,600 (from the average P6,400 for spraying
8-11 times) and raise net cash income to
P40,770 per hectare.
According to Solsoloy, even if the Bt cotton
seed is more expensive than currently
recommended cotton cultivars, this is augmented
by the increase in yield and lower
pest control cost.
In sum, the promise of Bt cotton may be
summed up thus: high yield plus low production
cost equals high profit and a healthy
environment.