World Cotton Day highlights importance of GM technology

Cotton farming sustains over 33 million growers globally, with 150 million people worldwide relying on it for income. The important role that cotton farming plays in poverty alleviation and rural upliftment is highlighted today as we celebrate World Cotton Day.

The UN commemorates this crop every year in October to highlight this life-changing product. A single ton of cotton, for example, provides year-round employment for five people on average, often in some of the most impoverished regions, according to the UN.

In South Africa, cotton cultivation has played a vital role in providing especially smallholder farmers with a viable income.

Tertius Schoeman, transformation manager at Cotton South Africa, noted that there were 1 743 smallholder cotton farmers in the country, cultivating 4 550ha dryland and 44ha under irrigation. Last year they produced 6 273 lint bales weighing 200kg each.

Last year, South Africa in total produced just over 78 000 cotton lint bales weighing 200kg each, on 17 766ha.

Speaking about the impact that GM seed has made in South Africa, Schoeman said pest and weed management eroded most of the profit where smallholders planted conventional cotton instead of GM cotton.

“The average yield for conventional cotton in Africa, for example, is 359kg/ha, whereas South African small holders are achieving 700kg/ha to 800kg/ha on dryland with GM cotton,” Schoeman said.

Labour requirements are also drastically lower with GM cotton since herbicides can be used to combat weeds, whereas conventional cotton growers need to manually remove weeds.

“There are 12 different bollworm species. If you are not planting GM cotton that has a gene that stimulates the plant to produce a toxin that kills the bollworm, you end up having to apply pesticides day and night to save your crop,” Schoeman said.

Liza Bohlmann, external communications lead for Sub-Saharan Africa at Bayer Crop Science, said GM technology had made a significant difference in the ability of cotton to sustain livelihoods.

“Bollworm steals farmers’ income. The built-in protection that certain GM cotton varieties have against bollworm means that farmers’ hands are free to focus on crop production, rather than being in a continuous fight against this pest. The gap in yield and income is massive between GM and non-GM cotton production, which is why we are seeing many African countries moving towards greater acceptance of this crop,” Bohlmann said.

According to the Alliance for Science, only four countries in Africa currently allow GM cotton to be planted: South Africa, Eswatini, Burkina Faso and Sudan. Several countries are however in the process of introducing GM cotton for commercial production, including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Malawi.

Globally, negative perceptions about cotton’s impact on the environment have been rife over the past few years, with activists accusing cotton farmers of using up the world’s water resources. The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) therefore created a campaign, #TruthAboutCotton, to counter misinformation.

ICAC research shows that cotton needs only 1 214ℓ of water to produce 1kg of lint, not the 20 000ℓ often touted. The research also shows that more than 60% of cotton production is rainfed.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN’s agricultural outlook for 2022 to 2031 stated that cotton production was expected to grow steadily worldwide to reach 30,6 million tons by 2031, 17% higher than in 2022.

Most of the production growth in the coming decade is expected to come from main producing countries China, the US and Brazil, with India accounting for about 25% of the global increase.

At the global level, gains in cotton production are projected to stem mainly from higher yields, which are expected to increase by 14%, reflecting improved genetics and better agricultural practices.