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vminfla

(1,367 posts)
52. For one , The UCS Study acknowledges Bt GE crops have higher yields
Mon Jan 9, 2012, 12:15 PM
Jan 2012

For another, again, a host of factors contribute to crop yields......


India is an important grower of cotton on a global scale. It ranks third in global cotton production after the United States and China; with 8-9 million hectares grown each year, India accounts for approximately 25% of the world's total cotton area and 16% of global cotton production. Most of the cotton in India is grown under rainfed conditions, and about a third is grown under irrigation (Sundaram, Basu, Krishna Iyer, Narayanan, & Rajendran, 1999). However, yields of cotton in India are low, with an average yield of 300 kg/ha compared to the world average of 580 kg/ha.

Cotton is a very important cash crop for Indian farmers and contributes around 30% to the gross domestic product of Indian agriculture. However, as with many cotton growing areas of the world, a major limiting factor is damage due to insect pests, especially the bollworm complex (American bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera; Spotted bollworm, Earias vittella; Pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossipiella). Sucking pests such as aphids (Aphis gossypii), jassids (Amrasca bigutulla), and whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) are also a problem in terms of direct damage to the plant and the transmission of viruses.

In March 2002, the Indian government permitted commercial cultivation of genetically modified Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton. The Bt gene produces a protein that is toxic to bollworms. Bt cotton has now been produced in India for two seasons—2002 and 2003. In 2002, some 38,000 hectares were planted with Bt cotton, with more than 12,000 hectares being grown by more than 17,000 farmers in the state of Maharashtra. Given the scale of the cotton industry in India and the current global debates over advantages/disadvantages of GM technology, it is not surprising that there has been considerable and vigorous debate regarding the agronomic and economic performance of Bt cotton in India with various reports claiming both successes and failures. Qaim (2003), for example, analyzed trial data from seed companies testing Bt cotton and concluded that quantities of insecticide can be reduced by about one third relative to conventional (non-Bt) varieties, and yield gains can be up to 80% in seasons with bad bollworm infestations (a typical increase may be 30-40%). However, trial data can be criticized as being untypical models of the real conditions that prevail on Indian farms, and yield benefits may as a result be far less than those projected from trials. Even so, other studies have also shown potential gains to producers from growing Bt cotton in a number of developing countries (James, 2002), including South Africa (Bennett, Buthelezi, Ismael, & Morse, 2003; Ismael, Bennett, & Morse, 2002), Argentina (Qaim & De Janvry, 2002), Mexico (Traxler, Godoy-Avilla, Falck-Zepeda, & Espinoza-Arellano, 2001), Indonesia (Manwan & Subagyo, 2002), China (Pray, Rozelle, Huang, & Wang, 2002), and India (Naik, 2001; Qaim & Zilberman, 2003).


http://www.agbioforum.org/v7n3/v7n3a01-morse.htm
only the worst people in the world do business with Iran Enrique Jan 2012 #1
Yes vminfla Jan 2012 #55
Good. David__77 Jan 2012 #2
Yes, hopefully South America can lead the way. sabrina 1 Jan 2012 #3
+1 nt ooglymoogly Jan 2012 #18
Kind of hard... CJvR Jan 2012 #13
The Iranian president is subordinate to the Supreme Leader on issues of foreign policy. n/t ronnie624 Jan 2012 #22
& CJvR Jan 2012 #67
We do business with Saudi Arabia. They aren't much better.n/t Cleita Jan 2012 #4
It's a bit more personal with Iran DissedByBush Jan 2012 #23
I remember, but it wasn't just a planeload of Americans who suffered then. Thousands of Iranians Cleita Jan 2012 #25
"a while back" is right. Prometheus Bound Jan 2012 #30
and we "accidentally" shot down one of their airliners with 290 people Blue_Tires Jan 2012 #41
We were kind of paranoid after "accidentally" almost losing a ship the year before DissedByBush Jan 2012 #56
They are getting ready to execute an Iranian American (former USMC) they are accusing of spying. MADem Jan 2012 #57
Was he spying? DissedByBush Jan 2012 #60
I see you've already convicted him. He says he was visiting his grandmother. NT MADem Jan 2012 #63
Actually, they've already convicted him DissedByBush Jan 2012 #69
From what I have read of this kid, I don't think he's spy material. MADem Jan 2012 #71
Sounds like a perfect spy DissedByBush Jan 2012 #75
More like a courier, not a spy, though. MADem Jan 2012 #77
It's still espionage DissedByBush Jan 2012 #78
I am not going to buy that quite yet. MADem Jan 2012 #79
The Saudis aren't much BETTER? JackRiddler Jan 2012 #80
Really. Cleita Jan 2012 #82
Yes of course, I agree with that. JackRiddler Jan 2012 #83
Just a figure of speech. n/t Cleita Jan 2012 #87
Chavez isn't a leftist progressive... MellowDem Jan 2012 #5
Riiiight. Arctic Dave Jan 2012 #10
Yes of course you have it right.... ooglymoogly Jan 2012 #26
Yes, I do have it right.... MellowDem Jan 2012 #53
Well said. MADem Jan 2012 #62
Remember the quote, "We don't have any gays in Iran" DissedByBush Jan 2012 #58
And as heinous as that is, it isn't the reason for U.S. intervention in the ME. ronnie624 Jan 2012 #65
Don't even go there DissedByBush Jan 2012 #70
Excellent rebuttal. nt MADem Jan 2012 #72
You rationalized U.S. intervention in the Middle East ronnie624 Jan 2012 #73
I'm not the one who tied the two together DissedByBush Jan 2012 #76
Not if "collateral" casualties are predictable on a mass scale. JackRiddler Jan 2012 #81
This is a bad argument... MellowDem Jan 2012 #92
There wasn't much of an argument. ronnie624 Jan 2012 #93
Well, I was the one making the claim, not the US government... MellowDem Jan 2012 #94
The article is about the foreign policies of Iran, Venezuela and the U.S. ronnie624 Jan 2012 #96
how arrogant and presumptuous of us.... unkachuck Jan 2012 #6
I just met a refugee family from Chavez' Venezuela who fled to US for asylum wordpix Jan 2012 #9
Oh really. Arctic Dave Jan 2012 #11
So either wordpix is a liar... Bicoastal Jan 2012 #16
Or maybe the poster is a skeptic, who prefers evidence over anecdote. n/t ronnie624 Jan 2012 #24
sorry but I'm not naming names--prefer to protect this family wordpix Jan 2012 #84
here's a link re: 80,000 TONS of rotting meat in Chavez' well run country, food shortages wordpix Jan 2012 #85
wait a minute bitchkitty Jan 2012 #95
"uh huh," that's the way you treat sensitive information wordpix Jan 2012 #97
Hey, far be it from me to deny you your intrigue. bitchkitty Jan 2012 #98
I didn't get either truth or lies... LanternWaste Jan 2012 #37
Odd how Chavez supporters are also the ultimate arbiters of truth. Dreamer Tatum Jan 2012 #20
Clearly what the media here tells US Americans is what some automatically believe. Judi Lynn Jan 2012 #31
Which is the undisputed truth - I know this because a Chavez supporter said it. Dreamer Tatum Jan 2012 #64
You're the first to claim expatriot Venezuelans are "refugees." What a twist. Judi Lynn Jan 2012 #28
Is the hot chick with the sling a "freedom fighter"? vminfla Jan 2012 #48
hey, Judi L, "refugee" is what the Venezuelan called herself and family wordpix Jan 2012 #86
Re: your claim you don't dare "broadcast protests against the government," you must check that info. Judi Lynn Jan 2012 #33
I'm sure there are alternate ways of looking at one's gov in Venezuela, just like in the US wordpix Jan 2012 #90
It reminds me of when I was in graduate school and knew a member of the Kuwaiti Lydia Leftcoast Jan 2012 #14
The enemy of my enemy is my friend... jimlup Jan 2012 #7
Oy. This isn't good news. Call Sean Penn! SleeplessinSoCal Jan 2012 #8
Is it me, or are people here at DU jonesing for war with Iran MMJjestic Jan 2012 #12
Whoah Whoah whoah. I don't welcome war with Iran, but I dislike its leaders... Bicoastal Jan 2012 #15
+1, no one here should be defending Iran and their terrible human right's record. nyy1998 Jan 2012 #21
Everyone should be defending Iran... David__77 Jan 2012 #27
"Sanctions" is an act of aggression? Since when? nyy1998 Jan 2012 #54
No one here 'embraces' a theocratic dictatorship. ronnie624 Jan 2012 #29
+1 nt ooglymoogly Jan 2012 #17
It's just you leftynyc Jan 2012 #35
Schmuck. nt onehandle Jan 2012 #19
Chavez is an asshole with brutal dictator buddies. Archae Jan 2012 #32
You want to run down a list of repressive brutal governments we are arming against their own people? EFerrari Jan 2012 #40
Bravo Chavez! The US has done far more harm to the world--South & Central America--than Vidar Jan 2012 #34
We're the evil empire? leftynyc Jan 2012 #36
Vida is right, of course. Did you check how many people US drones killed on the same day? EFerrari Jan 2012 #38
Small farmers are put of business by GMOs vminfla Jan 2012 #42
GMOs have been so bad for small farmers EFerrari Jan 2012 #43
Confusing Effect with Cause vminfla Jan 2012 #45
Nope and in fact, GMOs do not have a greater yield. EFerrari Jan 2012 #49
For one , The UCS Study acknowledges Bt GE crops have higher yields vminfla Jan 2012 #52
I'm very well aware leftynyc Jan 2012 #46
I have given several reasons why I agree with Vida. You have posted insults. I think we're done. EFerrari Jan 2012 #50
Sadly, I agree. We will go to war with Iran so that BP can steal their oil. n/t Scuba Jan 2012 #61
Seems to me some Mugabe supporters have morphed into Broderick Jan 2012 #39
I noticed the same thing vminfla Jan 2012 #47
How you can compare Chavez, who has been praised by the UN EFerrari Jan 2012 #51
In some cases, attempting rational discussion is utterly futile. n/t ronnie624 Jan 2012 #66
Why do you exclude Europe from the "hemisphere"? ChangoLoa Jan 2012 #68
It only came at the cost of 100 thousand people ruthlessly murdered. joshcryer Jan 2012 #74
R#5 (for visibility) & K for, Huguito's daily breath is predictable, not news & not breaking n/t UTUSN Jan 2012 #44
Bad move Hugo. You've now put yourself in company ... Scuba Jan 2012 #59
Iran asks Venezuela to repay debts exceeding USD 290 million Bacchus4.0 Jan 2012 #88
Best Friends Forever! Lol. Little Tich Jan 2012 #89
Come on DUers! You are supposed to Knee-jerk React to this news fascisthunter Jan 2012 #91
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