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Why Bt cotton pays for small-scale producers in South Africa

Nature Biotechnology volume 22, pages 379–380 (2004)Cite this article

To the editor:

There is much debate about the potential benefits (and costs) of genetically modified (GM) crop technology for developing countries. Studies have been carried out in Argentina, China, Indonesia and most recently India1 to assess the impact of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton on farmers in those regions. These studies have demonstrated benefits in terms of gross margin (revenue minus costs) as a result of increased yield and savings in pesticide, but were based on field trials with a high degree of researcher management. Here, we describe the economic impacts of the uptake of Bt cotton by resource-poor, smallholder farmers in South Africa. It is the first such study on the continent of Africa based on farmers' own practice as distinct from field-trial data collected under controlled conditions. To our knowledge, there have been no comparable and large-scale studies on the continent of Africa and few anywhere that look at Bt cotton production under entirely farmer-managed conditions.

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References

  1. Qaim, M. & Zilberman, D. Science 299, 900–902 (2003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AB, Berkshire, UK

    Stephen Morse

  2. Department of Agricultural and Food Economics, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, Berkshire, UK

    Richard Bennett & Yousouf Ismael

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  1. Stephen Morse
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  2. Richard Bennett
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  3. Yousouf Ismael
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Correspondence to Stephen Morse.

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Morse, S., Bennett, R. & Ismael, Y. Why Bt cotton pays for small-scale producers in South Africa. Nat Biotechnol 22, 379–380 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0404-379b

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0404-379b

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