Pros and cons of transgenic cotton continue in S. Sulawesi
Pros and cons of transgenic cotton continue in S. Sulawesi
By Hasanuddin Hamid
MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): Public controversy over
transgenic cotton lingers on as cotton plantations in Balleanging
village in Bulukumba regency, some 160 kilometers south of
Makassar in South Sulawesi, are attacked by worms.
The small greenish worms with black spotted heads, locally
called gerayak (Spodoptera litura), make leaves of 70-day-old
cotton trees look like spider webs. The worms live between three
and four days.
Utok Aso, head of the Matoanging I farmers group in Ujung Loe
Bulukumba regency, said the pest attack had got some cotton
growers worried.
Utok, who coordinates the activities of the 37 farmers in his
group, said so far, five cotton growers have reported the attack.
He said the farmers were worried because in 1985 when insecticide
was sprayed on worm-infested DP 55 cotton type, it caused more
damage.
Another farmer, Mursalim, played down the attack.
The 30-year-old man, who has been growing cotton for eight
years, said he was not surprised by the attack although it
affected the cotton trees' leaves and young fruit.
"It's normal to find it (pests) on cotton trees," Mursalim
said.
However, the bad news made South Sulawesi Governor Z.B.
Palaguna rush to inspect the province's largest transgenic cotton
plantations in Kaloling village, Pajukukkang district in
Bantaeng, about 100 km south of Makassar.
The governor's concern might stem from his open support of the
use of transgenic cotton. "I support the use of transgenic cotton
because this is what the farmers want," he said.
Transgenic technology creates higher quality crops and stocks
by inserting genes from other species.
These products are called genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) or biologically engineered products where foreign genes
are inserted to protect the plant from pests or to enable it to
resist a specific herbicide.
Despite assurances from scientists that it is harmless, doubts
linger as to the safety of genetically modified food and their
effect on our health and the environment.
In Indonesia, the use of transgenic technology is still
controversial.
According to Ministry of Agriculture's Decree No. 107/2001
dated Feb. 6, 2001, limited sale of genetically modified seeds in
Sulawesi is allowed. This decree, however, was criticized by
environmental activists and even recently by State Minister of
the Environment Sonny Keraf who insisted there was still a major
concern over health safety of transgenic crops and their effect
on the environment.
Nevertheless, the transgenic cotton was grown in Bantaeng and
Bulukumba regencies in April 2000 by PT Monsanto or Monagro Kimia
over 500 hectares of land and involving 668 farmers. Its harvest
in September last year reportedly produced between one and a half
and three tons of cotton per hectare.
Pest resistance
Transgenic or Bollgard cotton contains the Cry IAc gene that
is taken from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) -- a soil bacterium.
The product of this gene, delta endotoxin, is a toxic protein.
Cotton plants implanted with the Bt gene can resist pests of
the Helicoverpa armigera (seed borers) type because the gene
instructs the plant cell to produce the toxic protein that kills
the pest, but it is not toxic to other pests. For instance, when
Helicoverpa armigera attack cotton buds or fruit, they will
suffer a digestive disorder and die in several days.
Pest expert Ibrahim Manwan of Hasanuddin University, who is
also chairman of the transgenic cotton monitoring and control
team, discovered in his research that the Spodoptera worm and
leaf insects Aphis attacked transgenic cotton.
However, he added, the attacks had not reached an alarming
level to affect cotton production.
"The attack remains within the economic threshold since there
are less than seven worms per 40 clusters (of cotton trees),"
assured Ibrahim.
He revealed that transgenic cotton was not resistant to all
types of pests.
"The monitoring team have never said that transgenic cotton
was free from all pests. What we have said was transgenic cotton,
whose seeds are imported from Africa, would not be affected by
Helicoverpa," Ibrahim said.
Transgenic cotton can resist the attack of nontarget pests
such as seed borers (Helicoverpa), shoot eaters and seed
crushers. Helicoverpa used to damage the crops before they can be
harvested after 135 days. However, it cannot resist target pests
such as gerayak, leaf bugs and cotton locusts.
"We have predicted this attack so we're not really surprised,"
Ibrahim said.
Natural method
The expert does not recommend farmers use insecticides to get
rid of the worms. Instead, farmers were advised to use a natural
method, such as plucking the affected leaves and trampling them.
Ibrahim said he was not worried about pest resistance since
transgenic cotton did not require the use of insecticides.
Ordinary cotton, he added, might cause pest resistance and
environmental damage since it heavily relied on insecticides.
With the gerayak worm attack, Ibrahim and his team have
conducted intensive monitoring, for instance, by gathering
samples from 20 plants for pest observation.
The team concluded that sprayings was not needed since the
attack had not reached a dangerous level. Moreover, the pest's
natural predators were still found on the cotton trees.
"Before, with Kanesia (non-Bt cotton), weekly sprayings was
needed. Less use of pesticide will help maintain the pest's
natural predators," Ibrahim said.
Transgenic cotton raises cotton production between one and a
half and two and a half tons per hectare annually, or an
equivalent of Rp 1.6 to Rp 2.4 million, from only 300 kilograms
to 600 kg annually or an equivalent of Rp 300,000 to Rp 515,000
in the past.
Annual national cotton fiber demand stands at 464,400 tons
while production is only 2,600 tons.
Based on data from the Directorate General of Estate
Production Development of the Ministry of Agriculture, cotton
production has in the last few years declined to 400 kg to 500 kg
per hectare annually. The area available to this crop has also
shrunk from 46,360 hectares in 1984/85 to 14,000 hectares in the
last two years.