IPM pays off for team players as GM hits problems
Benefits compared to GM cotton
May 2001
According to 'Cotton World'(Australia), large plantings of
Monsanto's Ingard GM cotton in Australia in recent years have led
to concerns about insect resistance to Bt.
In order to try and maintain the efficacy of the technology
Australian growers could soon face independent audits of their
pupae-busting activities as part of the resistance management
strategy for Ingard varieties.
Ingard crops require priority tillage action irrespective of
pupae numbers, and all Ingard crops in southern Queensland and
New South Wales are considered a high risk situation for pupae
control
(see: http://www.cottonworld.com.au/cworld/index.php3?type=2001_03_21_1&directory=archives&insert=view.inc&title=Story6
)
Meanwhile, 'Innovate Australia'
(representing Australia's food, fibre and natural resources
research and development corporations) reports steadily
increasing levels of pesticide applications on Ingard Bt cotton
following the initial substantial
reductions (see: http://www.innovateaustralia.com/summer00/crdc.html ).
Despite its on-going enthusiasm for Ingard Bt cotton Innovate
Australia concludes that:
"Economic benefits for growers from the new
technology have been variable but generally only small when
compared to conventional cotton".
These comments make an interesting contrast with the
substantially improved financial margins some Australian farmers
are now achieving with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) methods
compared to conventional cotton management (see article below):
"What these surveys are showing is that there
doesn't seem to be much relationship between yield and dollars
spent on pest management. When you compare IPM fields with
conventional management, IPM is coming out in front by up to a
few hundred dollars per hectare", Bruce Pyke,
research and extension manager for the Cotton Research and
Development Corporation.
NATURAL LAW PARTY WESSEX
nlpwessex@bigfoot.com
www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex
For more information on agronomic problems with GM
cotton see:
http://www.biotech-info.net/Cotton_agronomic_problems.html
http://www.jcotsci.org/2000/issue04/html/page232.html
Cotton World
IPM pays off for team players
Fri 27 Apr 2001 - Staff writer: Donald Turner [extracts]
INTEGRATING pest management as a group is paying off in improved
profit margins for Australian cotton growers.
More growers are combining the disciplines of integrated pest
management (IPM) programs with area-wide management groups for
mutual benefit........
Integrated pest management encourages growers to make use of
natural predators by delaying or eliminating applications of
broad-spectrum sprays such as pyrethroids and
organophosphates....
The results of this survey, and others like it, encourage those
who believe sustainable cotton production depends on the
extension of this management approach.
"What these surveys are showing is that there doesn't seem
to be much relationship between yield and dollars spent on pest
management. When you compare IPM fields with conventional
management, IPM is coming out in front by up to a few hundred
dollars per hectare", Bruce Pyke, research and extension
manager for the Cotton Research and Development
Corporation........
FULL ARTICLE @
http://www.cottonworld.com.au/cworld/index.php3?type=2001_04_27_1&directory=archives&insert=view.inc&title=Story6
