Pros And Cons Of Genetically Modified Cotton

Cotton. A fiber, animal feed and food crop. It has many uses from its soft white down being used to make textiles and clothing, to the seed being crushed to produce oil and hull to feed livestock. It provides thousands of everyday commodities and millions of jobs. China and India are the world’s top producers of cotton with China producing nearly “75 million bales from 2011-13,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Sood, 2104). It is said to be the introduction of genetically modified (GM) cotton that has caused this drastic increase in food safety. Has Bt cotton really made the economic life for small-scale farmers more secure or is it proving to be even more disadvantageous than conventional farming methods? Can it help to provide

This was also the case in farms where the seed has been used for a longer period of time, the evidence suggest that the claims made by the skeptics that the prolonged use of the genetically modified cotton would lead to the bollworm becoming desensitized and resistant to the protein are false and there has been no signs of this. On the other hand, farmers could be learning different techniques to better deal with pests without the use of such harmful pesticides, which could also be a reason for the continual increase in

The use of pesticides and insecticide has decreased dramatically, (pesticide where often used in the form of a small back pack and a hand pump, farmers would not wear any form of protective clothing, either from not being able to afford it or not understanding the dangers caused by the use of such harmful chemicals). Thus, leading to farmers being covered in harmful chemicals and the deteriorating health of the individuals increasing as more and more substances where used to ensure increasing cotton yield, this could often end up with farmers being poisoned and in some cases death (Qiao et al, 2000). Bt cotton use also coincided with the reduced rate of framers being poisoned and also saw the improved health of their family and locals who lived at the surrounding areas. This further shows the advantages the use of Bt cotton has had on improving the life of small-scale framers, not just economically but in regards to health and lifestyle