Bio-Technologies for Cotton Production

Bio-Technologies for Cotton Production

K. R. KRANTHI Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur, India

Why are the yields low in India?

Low plant density –need more bolls per plant

More bolls need long duration

Moisture stress at boll formation stage

Long vulnerable boll window

Why is the bollworm and whitefly problem so acute in India?

1. Long duration of reproductive phase –long vulnerability

2. More fertilizers -more foliage -more pests

3. More insecticide –ecology disrupted –pest infestation

Cotton Scenario: India v/s Rest of World

India Rest of the world

Plant Population /ha 11,000 160,000

Bolls/plant for 4 t/ha 100 7

Crop duration days 190 150

Square-bolls days 120 60

Productivity Kg/ha 500 902

Genotype Hybrids Varieties

Plants in meter row 1 to 2 10-17

Seed Rate Kg/ha 2 12

More bolls per plant

–longer duration –more pests –moisture stress

Few bolls per plant

–shorter duration –escape pests –escape moisture stress

Simple message

Long Duration Hybrid Cotton

J

H

50% of total pesticides on cotton (5% area)

Hybrids need more Nitrogen -more pests

More pests –more insecticides

14,000 Mt insecticides for bollworm per year

Yield losses US$ 1600 million per year

Insect resistance to insecticides

The cotton bollworm

Yeh Dil Maange More !!

Farmers with pesticide

Yeh Dil Maange NO More !!

Bacillus thuringiensis

Bt gene Cotton plant cell Bt Cotton

Development of Bt cotton

Bt Cotton was approved in 2002 in India

1500 Bt Cotton Hybrids

95% Cotton Area is Bt Cotton

2014

12.1 M hectares; 8.0 M farmers; 40 M workers

US $ 3.2 Billion raw cotton exports in 2011

0.4 1.2 5.7

11.5

40.5

68

79.7 81.5

90.6 91.14 93.5 95

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

% Bt Area Kg/ha

Year

% Bt Area

Productivity (Kg/ha)

Cotton in India

Data: CAB cotcorp.gov.in

Insecticides ‘000 tonnes

Fertilizers '000 million tonnes

1990 9.0 0.94

2000 11.0 1.47

2006 4.60 1.89

2013 11.60 2.30

Chemicals in Cotton Fields

For the past 50 years, USA has been using 0.4 to 0.5 million tonnes of nitrogen, but the yields have been increasing

0 1

6

12

38

67

81 82

92 92 94 96

0.9

1.3

1.1

0.7

0.5

0.6 0.5

0.7 0.7

0.6

0.6

1.0

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

Insecticide Kg/ha

% Bt Cotton

% Bt Area

Kg/ha insecticide

Insecticide use (Kg/ha) on Cotton

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012

India

United States

Fertilizer use M tonnes

Lakh ha Bales kg/ha Rainfed %

Australia 4.4 53 2047 26

Mexico 1.2 12 1691 12

Brazil 11.2 100 1516 98

China 49 410 1422 6

USA 30 165 921 60

Uzbekistan 13 53 703 10

Pakistan 30 122 689 0

India 117 392 568 60

World 327 1515 786 27

World (excl. India) 221 1189 907 10

Global Cotton Scenario 2013-14

India ranks 32nd in 80 cotton countries

*Source: USDA -Cotton: World Markets and Trade July 2014

Productivity in India and Brazil

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010

Kg

lin

t/h

a

India: 11.1 M ha; 32.5 M bales

Brazil: 1 M ha; 11.9 M bales

kg/ha N P K Total

Australia 2047 2.4 2.0 0.4 4.8

Mexico 1691 11.4 3.0 2.7 17.0

Brazil 1516 10.8 12.8 14.7 38.3

China 1422 62.2 22.8 9.9 94.9

USA 921 29.1 9.8 10.8 49.7

Uzbekistan 703 6.9 2.5 1.6 11.0

Pakistan 689 119 29.0 1.4 149.5

India 568 92.0 44.7 19.5 156.3

World 786 21.4 8.3 5.7 35.3

Fertilizer use Kg/ha 2011-12

*Source: Agricultural Research Data Book, IASRI 2014

Major Challenges

1. Uncertain Climate

2. Unabated Soil Degradation 3. Declining Water Table

4. Insect & Pathogen Resistance to Chemicals

5. Declining Factor Productivity: Increasing Fertilizer & Pesticide Usage

Greenhouse Gas Emission 2010

Compact Varieties-Short Duration

High Density Planting

Mechanization

Legume Based Cropping Systems

Residue Recycling

Soil Organic Enrichment

Biotech Cotton

IPM

Bio-Technologies

Few bolls /plant -better the Quality Extra Long Staple 38 mm 32 g/tex long Staple 30mm 30 g/tex Desi Short Staple for Surgical and absorbent cotton Desi varieties for quality

What can we do for Sustainable Pest Management? Escape the bollworms.....

Compact variety

1. Suitable for high density 2. Resistant to jassids and whiteflies 3. Less need for fertilizers 4. 150 days duration 5. High harvest index

What can we do for Sustainable Pest Management?

Early sowing:

1. Reproductive phase in August to mid-September–escapes the main bollworm peaks of mid-September to October

2. Reproductive phase gets adequate moisture

3. High density (20 times) 5-6 bolls per plant –low vulnerability to pests and diseases

1. Nitrogen fixing crop based cropping systems

2. Legume crops harbour parasitoids and predators

3. Residue recycling, manures and composts

4. Less chemical fertilizers and less pesticide usage

What can we do for Sustainable Pest Management?

1. GM technologies for bollworms

2. Insecticides such as Chlorantraniliprole, Emamectin benzoate and Spinosad for bollworm management

3. Neem and bio-pesticides for sucking pest management

What can we do for Sustainable Pest Management?

HDPS is a Global concept

4 g boll x 7 bolls per plant x 166,000 plants/ha 4 t/ha =

Hybrids -More bolls per plant

4 g boll x 100 bolls per plant x 10,000 plants/ha

4 t/ha

High Density Planting Systems (HDPS)

High yields in rainfed & marginal soils

Low Cost and Highly Sustainable

The answer for India’s yield enhancement

NEED COMPACT VARIETIES

Experience with two year farmer field trials

2012 (drought) & 2013 (Excess rains)

Experience with High Density Planting

Early sowing The crop escapes bollworms & moisture stress Overcomes Flooding Coragen & Fame control bollworms effectively Less weed infestation –less cost of weeding Less crop foliage -less nutrients needed Early & single picking –less labour needed Less labour cost on sowing, weeding and picking Need planters to maintain proper spacing Low production cost Rs 13,000 to 17,000/ha

Fibre strength in cotton can be enhanced by

1. Back-cross breeding of fibre genes for desirable traits using molecular markers

2. Mining genes from Ramie and utilizing them through biotech cotton

3. Sucrose phosphate synthase and extensin genes that enhanced fibre length and strength

Marker Assisted Breeding for fibre traits

Future GM Cotton fibers using silk genes from

silkworm, Bombyx mori and spider Araneus sps.

Spider silk: 5 times stronger than steel, twice as elastic as nylon. water proof and stretchable

Silkworm silk: 5-10 times more extensible than cellulose.

Better thermal properties

A pencil thick spider silk strand can stop a boeing 747 in flight !!

New genes for RNAi for pest control

Trehalase Helicostatins Helicokinins

Halloween

Farnesoic acid

Allatostatins

Allatotropins

Juvenile Hormone acid

O-methyltransferase

Juvenile hormone esterase

Epoxide hydrolase

Adipokinetic hormone

FLRFamide related peptide

O-methyl transferase Chitin synthase

Invertebrate specific arginine synthase

Gene Discovery for

RNAi, GM & MAS

We will need new generation pest

resistant varieties after next 5 years

Marker assisted breeding

for fibre quality, drought & biotic stress resistance

New Lectin genes for

sucking pest resistant GM cotton are being identified

Bollworms survive on cotton because they have an enzyme called P450 monooxygenase CYP6AE14 which digests gossypol. The new biotech cotton expresses dsRNA of the enzyme. When bollworm eats the dsRNA the enzyme is silenced and undigested gossypol remains in the stomach and kills

Insect resistant biotech cotton that silences gossypol

C1 C2 C3 M G1 G2 G3

300bp

Chitin Synthase A

G C1 C2 C3 C4 M

Juvenile Hormone Esterase

434 bp

454 bp

G1 G2 G3 M C1 C2 C3

Trehalose Phosphate Synthase

G1 G2 M C1 C2

Helicostatin

332 bp

dsRNA for RNA interference

The alarm pheromone for many species of aphids, which causes dispersion in response to attack by

predators or parasitoids, consists of the sesquiterpene (E)-farnesene (Ef). High levels of expression in

Arabidopsis thaliana plants of an Efsynthase gene cloned from Mentha piperita were used to cause

emission of pure Ef. These plants elicited potent effects on behavior of the aphid Myzus persicae

(alarm and repellent responses) and its parasitoid Diaeretiella rapae (an arrestant response).

Insects release chemicals called alarm pheromones when they are scared by their enemies. This warns their colonies to escape. New biotech crops express alarm pheromones that scare the specific insect pests

GM crops to scare insects

Desi Varieties: RG-8, PA 402, PA 405, PA 255, DLSA 17 & Jayadhar Hirsutum Varieties: Surabhi, Anjali, LRA 5166 & G-Cot 10

Cry genes: Cry1Ac, Cry1Aa3, Cry1F & Cry2Aa

rep and acp and scp genes for CLCuV resistance

CesA genes and Susy genes identified for fibre strength

Chitinase and Xa21 genes used for disease resistance

dreb 1A and BcZF 1 genes used for drought resistance

CotPI introgressed into Gcot-10 for bollworm resistance

INDIGENOUS GM-COTTON WITH NEW GENES

Marker Assisted Selection & Resistance Breeding

1. Bacterial leaf blight resistance 2. Nematode resistance

3. Cotton leaf curl virus resistance 4. Molecular characterization of core-germplasm. Association Mapping

Cry1Ac, Cry2Ab2, Cry1F, Cry1Aa, Cry1Ab, Cry1C, Cry1B & Vip3A

ELISA and Strip tests for GM seed purity

Molecular diagnostic PCR EVENT DETECTION kits to unambiguously detect all the 22 events that are commercially cultivated GM-cotton

world wide. All the kits have been validated and commercialized

Patents granted in China, Mexico, South Korea, Uzbek & South Africa.

50,000 kits sold: Resource generation of Rs 2.2 crores

Immuno-Strips to detect Substandard Pesticides

Insecticide Resistance Detection Kit

Development of prediction models & validation 1. Cotton area and Production Prediction. Database development

2. Cotton Price Prediction. Database development of Indian and global markets

3. Pest and Disease Forecasting.

4. Farmer usable pest scouting gadgets

5. insect resistance development to Bt cotton / insecticides Stochastic modeliing. Insect Resistance Database and IRM strategies.

6. E-KAPAS network to connect 100,000 farmers for technology dissemination and back-stopping

A 3-row, self propelled check row planter with pneumatic metering. Cost saving over traditional was 75% due to proper placement of seed. Actual field capacity was 0.51 ha/h with 88 % field efficiency. Cost of operation was Rs. 215/ha remarkable less than any other traditional method

Self propelled Check row planter (CICR & DrPDKV)

Reduced seed damage and uniform seed placement.

Germination percentage: 98% Seed rate: 4.2 kg/ha.

The field capacity of the implement was 4.5 hrs/ha.

Bullock drawn precision planter with an innovative vertical

rotor metering mechanism (Patent pending).

Solar Knap Sack Sprayer

Patent F.No 1559/Mum/09 Rs 8000. 15-18o tilt. Light weight and works non-stop

Implements Designed, Developed & Validated by CICR

CICR PRECISION COTTON HARVESTER Indigenous prototype for small farm holdings

Specifications CICR Harvester Imported Pickers

Expected Cost Rs 4.0 lakhs Rs 25.0 lakhs

Time taken 4.20 hrs per ha 4.0 hrs per ha

Cost of picking Rs 1.2 per kg Rs 7.0 per kg

Cost of picking Rs 2400 per ha Rs 14000 per ha

17.0 Million registered looms, 1500 spinning mills, and 280 composite mills

8.0 Million Farmers, 40 Million employed in Textile industry

Cotton is the largest employer

Triple productivity What will it mean to India?

Employment for 120 million persons Earn US$ 220 billion textile export

Oil worth US$ 8.0 Billion

Total Raw cotton : US$ 11.0 Billion Raw Cotton Export (2011): US$ 3.2 Cotton and Textile exports: US$ 22.0 billion (One-third of foreign exchange earnings)

Simple small ideas can lead to

big things

Thank You