Commercial Bt cotton propagation eyed

MANILA, Philippines — The government is seeking inputs for the commercial propagation of Bt cotton in hopes of reviving the country’s cotton industry.

The Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA) said the Bureau of Plant Industry has reviewed its application for biosafety permit for commercial propagation of Bt cotton GFM cry1A Cotton, which has “found it sufficient.”

However, the Joint Assessment Group composed of the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resouces and Department of Health Biosafety Committees required additional information for appropriate action by PhilFIDA.

“Still, PhilFIDA hopes for the realization of its vision of reviving the Philippine cotton industry,” it said.

PhilFIDA submitted last March its application for biosafety permit for commercial propagation of Bt cotton GFM cry1A to BPI.

Bt cotton is an insect-resistant transgenic crop designed to combat cotton bollworm – the most disastrous and economically important insect pest of cotton causing a substantial 65 percent loss in cotton yields.

The adoption of Bt cotton will allow higher yield and income, as well as decreased labor and pesticide use, thereby reducing production costs.

If approved, it will implement techno-demonstration with the cotton producers in Ilocos, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Saranggani and South Cotabato involving 40 one-hectare cotton farms.

The PhilFIDA Reseach Division has arranged with the technology developer from India to provide Bt-cotton seeds for these 40 techno-demo farms for free.

The techno-demo project would require a total budget of P4 million.

Currently, the commercial propagation of Bt cotton is approved in the US, India, China, Pakistan, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, Costa Rica, South Africa, Myanmar, Sudan and Kingdom of Eswatini.

PhilFIDA said the newly developed cotton requires low level of pesticide to be sprayed on it, resulting in more environmental benefits.

Bt cotton targets to address the issues with pests while increasing yields and delivering higher profits for farmers.

In its multi-locational field trials of Bt-cotton in Luzon and Mindanao last year, PhilFIDA said results were promising as regards to the revitalization of the cotton industry in the country.

Based on the field trials, the Bt-cotton could yield three tons per hectare compared to the one to two tons with the present local commercial varieties.

The commercial propagation of Bt cotton will be undertaken together with the promotion of the production of heirloom cotton and the implementation of organic cotton production technology, PhilFIDA said.

Last year, the country’s cotton production reached 33.28 metric tons (MT), 21.2-percent higher than the 27.46 MT produced in 2021. In 2020, cotton output reached 40.85 MT.