Low Yield for Genetically-Manipulated Cotton; Maine Rejects Growing Genetically-Manipulated Corn
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[Excerpted from a Reuters article on October 19, 1998.]
Courtesy of Union of Concerned Scientists (Natural Law Party Wessex).
The Gene Exchange
A Public Voice on Biotechnology and Agriculture
More Rain on the Parade
Low-Yielding Bt cotton in Arkansas
According to the April 1998 Cotton Grower, Bt-cotton growers in
Arkansas had less than a banner year last season. A University of Arkansas
study of several Bt and non-Bt cotton fields showed that on average Bt
cotton yielded fewer pounds and lower income per acre. One farm showed a
remarkable difference in yield--Bt cotton produced 168 fewer pounds per acre
than the non-Bt variety. Bt cotton, on the farms studied, yielded an average
of 24 fewer pounds per acre. Also, the new varieties required more growth
regulator to synchronize plant development and had to be picked twice at
harvest. Non-Bt cotton is typically picked only once.
Maine Turns Down Bt Corn
The Maine Board of Pesticides Control is the first regulatory
body in the United States to turn down a request for registration of Bt
field corn. Two concerns turned a December Board vote against Novartis and
DeKalb, the companies seeking the registration. The Board was not convinced
that Maine farmers needed the new crop--Bt-corn proponents failed to show
that the European corn borer, the pest targeted by the engineered corn,
causes sufficient damage in Maine to warrant approval. And, the Board was
worried about the possible development of resistance to Bt and its impact on
the state's organic growers.
Sources: Maine Board of Pesticides Control, "BPC passes on Bt
forage corn registrations," Communicator 8(4): 1,3, December 30, 1997; S.
Tisher, "BPC nixes genetically engineered corn," Maine Organic Farmer and
Gardener 25(1): 10, March-May 1998.
Union of Concerned Scientists
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617-547-5552, ucs@ucsusa.org