Pakistan, a major global textile and apparel producer, will allow the cultivation of Bt cotton. This decision is part of the government’s effort to increase national cotton production from 13 million bales to 25 million bales over the next five years. A formal announcement of this new policy is expected in the next few days. Textiles and apparel account for nearly 40% of employment in Pakistan and two thirds of the country’s total exports.
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Paul B. Thompson, the W.K. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food and Community Ethics At Michigan State University, calls on liberals and progressives to take a more objective look at the benefits of agricultural biotechnology, particularly in their ability to benefit farmers in developing countries.
Mr. Thompson said that understanding how agricultural biotechnology can benefit the poor is going to require a sophisticated and complex discourse and its success depends on people of good will taking the time to understand and consider the arguments in some detail.
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Scientists have confirmed the advantages of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn and genetically modified (GM) crops over traditional strains in a seminar held at the Linden Suites in Ortigas Center as part of the Pan-Asia Farmers Exchange 2009 from August 4 to 6.
Dr. Violeta Villegas, an expert in plant pathology, said Bt corn has been genetically modified to resist the Asiatic corn borer, a pest that has ravaged corn plantations in the past. Apart from the improved quality of harvest, she added that Bt corn reduces the use of pesticides, which also slashes the production cost of farmers.
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A Huffington Post piece discusses the advances of genetically modified crops and how consumers are benefiting. Michael Jacobson, Executive Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, writes, “..the engineered crops currently being grown are safe and cause less environmental damage than their conventional cousins.”
Faced with increasing drought, farmers in Kenya’s eastern district of Mbeere South have started growing drought-tolerant crops to meet their food and subsistence needs instead of the staple maize.
Declining maize yields, due to climate variability and high fertilizer costs, have caused prices to soar. Four new drought-tolerant pigeon pea varieties are being piloted in Mbeere, and specialists say the crop will be able to grow in a variety of environments.
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is providing farmers with free seeds, saying there is a need to increase planting of drought-tolerant crops. Read the full story here.
