LAHORE: Pakistani farmers are losing Rs60-63 billion annually on unnecessary pesticide spray on cotton cultivated from normal cotton seed, and are losing their competitive edge to Indian cotton farmers growing BT cotton which requires less pesticide due to resistance to pests.

As the cotton crop is normally infected by various pests, cotton farmers have to spray pesticides 15-17 times during the crop cycle. The farmers say that one spray costs Rs750 (using cheapest pesticides) on average, per acre. The total amount spent on pesticide sprays on one acre, amounts to Rs11, 250 to Rs12,500. In rare cases when the pest attack is mild the number of sprays reduce to 5-7 in the crop cycle.

Agricultural experts point out that if BT cotton is introduced in the province, the frequency of spray would drop to three to five and the cost of one acre would come down to Rs2,250 to Rs3,750, saving Rs8,750 to Rs9,000 per acre. This amounts to a saving of Rs60 billion-63 billion on 7.25 million acres of cotton area.

Besides the benefits in cost of production that would go in to the pockets of farmers, less use of pesticide spray would also be an environment-friendly measure. The use of pesticides in Punjab has increased from 14,000 tonnes in 1990 to over 54,000 tonnes in 2008. It has decreased in all other cotton growing countries substantially ever since they started sowing BT cotton. This higher use is enriching pesticide companies but making the farmers poor.

Starting from 12 per cent BT cotton area in 2005-06 India has increased its BT cotton area to 85 per cent in 2008-09. Its pesticide consumption has significantly reduced from 45 per cent of the total pesticide utilisation on cotton in 1999-2000 to 20 per cent in 2007-08.

The agricultural planners of the country should realise insect resistance and herbicide tolerance are not the only traits currently available in biotech cottons, a broad range of other traits that have been developed have impacted the agronomic performance, stress tolerance, fiber quality and yield potential directly. India has produced long staple cotton by developing its BT cotton seeds.

Biotech cotton varieties should not be perceived as magic bullets for pest control in cotton, but it is a valuable component of integrated pest management (IPM) systems which can reduce the impact of key pests and address significant environmental concerns.

From the base of 2.31 million tonnes of cotton production in 2002-03 the Indian cotton harvest has increased regularly and has reached 5.47 million tonnes this year. It’s per hectare yield increased from 302 kg in 2002-03 to 590 kg per hectare. Pakistan’s cotton production remained stuck at 690-705 kg per hectare since 1999. During the current year, India’s cotton output, the second biggest in the world, has risen 4.8 per cent and is expected to reach 33 million bales.

BT cotton was grown in nine countries in 2007 among which China, India and Brazil planted the largest areas. Other countries growing BT cotton are Argentina, USA, Colombia, Mexico, Australia, South Africa and most recently, Burkina Faso. Outside of China, most varieties of bioengineered cotton available to farmers were developed by the private sector although India this year saw the first commercial approval of a BT cotton variety developed by the public sector.

A number of studies by public institutions have demonstrated that on average, farmers growing BT cotton in India who had reduced expenditures on insecticides, obtained greater yields, and received an average increase in profit ranging from $76-$250 per hectare.

Unofficial cultivation of BT cotton in Pakistan has given rise to suppliers that market spurious cotton seed in the name of BT cotton. This is the reason that cotton production instead of rising, is on a decline in the country.