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Aust’s
cotton crop could become completely GM
Canberra
- AAP
Almost
Australia’s entire cotton crop could become genetically modified,
the National Farmers’ Federation president Peter Corish said
recently. Mr Corish, addressing a conference on farm chemical use,
said farmers now using GM cotton had cut their use of pesticides
by up to 60 per cent.
He
said if a new type of GM cotton was made available, farmers would
jump at the chance to use it. Around a third of the nation’s
cotton crop is genetically altered so that it is resistant to a
major pest. Its use is restricted by legislation, and is largely
grown in areas close to streams and rivers or where chemical-drift
is an issue.
But
a new GM cotton which has two altered genes is close to being released
for general use. Mr Corish, himself a cotton grower, said the sucess
of the single gene altered
cotton showed there was a role for GM products in cotton production.
He
said the vastly reduced use of pesticides not only had benefits
for farmers, but surrounding properties and the general environment.
If the new GM cotton was available, farmers would press to allow
its unconditional use.
“We
could see the area of GM cotton go to 70 per cent or even 90 per
cent,” he told the conference.
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