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GMO BENEFITS INDIAN FARMERS
Pandit Increases Yields and Income, Improves Family’s Quality of Life
The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) — the regulatory authority for genetically modified (GMO) plants in India — recently announced that farmers increased the area planted with GMO insect-protected cotton to 8.1 million acres in 2006, up from 3.1 million acres in 2005.
Indian farmers represent the most rapid adopters of GMO plants in the world. Farmer Eknath Shivram Pandit has grown corn and cotton for nearly 15 years and recently switched to GMO cotton. He has experienced numerous GMO benefits on his farm and within his family including improved insect control with less pesticide spraying and an increase in yields and consequently income that has enabled them to improve their quality of life.
“This technology is going to be very helpful. ... There has been a lot of benefit. This product has brought in money. With money, there can be education,” says Pandit, husband and father of three. “I will buy more land for farming. Dig more wells. I can build a house. Save some money for my daughter’s wedding and son’s education.”
GMO insect-protected cotton contains a protein from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that protects cotton plants from specific lepidopteron insect pests. Cotton farmers in India are severely constrained by annual damage and losses due to insect pests — especially lepidopteron insects. Until the introduction of GMO plants in India in 2002, chemical control was the only option and the most common practice for controlling these pests.
“It is cost-effective. We have to spray just 2 or 3 times. But with the other seeds, the worms would attack, and we had to spray at least 15 to 20 times,” continues Pandit on the decrease of pesticide spraying in his operation — one of the greatest GMO benefits.
Increased income associated with the adoption of Bt cotton also has enabled Pandit to make significant advancements in his operation. “Before we would use an ox cart, and go to sell. ... Now we use a tractor because it can go fast and can come back fast too. So now we feel good. ... I am more enthusiastic about farming. It’s worth it now.”
© 2006 Monsanto Company. All rights reserved. The copyright holder consents to the use of this material and the images in the published context only and solely for the purpose of promoting the benefits of agricultural biotechnology.
French farmers discuss the benefits of GM crops and explain why they think the country needs to reevaluate and adopt plant biotechnology.
