BT Brinjal - Cornell Universityabsp2.cornell.edu/projects/btbrinjal/Coffman_MSSRF_13Mar14Final.pdf · 3 Borlaug & Brinjal •Resistance to Bt brinjal is reminiscent of the Green Revolution

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BT Brinjal

Taking it to the Farmer

Ronnie Coffman

International Professor of Plant Breeding

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Borlaug & Brinjal

• Resistance to Bt brinjal is reminiscent of

the Green Revolution

• People were suspicious of the new wheat

varieties. They seemed unnatural.

• Dr. Borlaug, Dr. Swaminathan and others

overcame this and the result was

dramatically higher wheat production.

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A Major Challenge Today

• Pesticides are pervasive

• The World Health Organization (WHO)

estimates that pesticides poison 2-3 people

per minute worldwide

• The WHO estimates tens of thousands are

killed annually

• Agricultural workers account for most of

the deaths

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Pesticide Use in Bangladesh

• Acutely toxic pesticides are widely used

• Pesticides banned in the developed world

are dumped in Bangladesh

• Farmers fail to protect themselves

• Farmers work barefooted; no gloves; no

shirt; no hat; no mask to avoid inhalation

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Gopalganj, Bangladesh

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Health and Environmental

Effects Widespread

• Short term: headaches, dizziness, and skin

irritation are common

• Longer term: leukemia, lung cancer,

aplastic anemia, fetal death, hormonal

changes, DNA damage, and birth defects

• Environmental effects: fresh water

pollution & accumulation in the food chain

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Brinjal is Pesticide Intensive

• Needs to be sprayed almost daily

• Might be sprayed 150 times during the

entire growing season

• Children are reported to be employed

dipping the fruit in buckets of pesticide

• Even so, losses to insect pests, particularly

the fruit and shoot borer, exceed 50 percent

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Brinjal Fruit & Shoot Borer

Exterior fruit damage Stem damage Shoot damage Fruit flesh damage

Adult moth Destructive larva

Most destructive insect pest of brinjal (60-70% yield loss)

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Bt Brinjal is the only

effective solution

• Bt brinjal protects itself by expressing a

naturally occurring insect control protein

• Called Bt because it originates from a soil

bacterium, bacillus thuringiensis

• The protein is denatured by acid and is

harmless to humans and other organisms

with an acid stomach

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Advantages of Bt Brinjal

• Pesticide application will be reduced

70-90 percent

• Farmer income will rise dramatically

due to higher yields and reduced costs

• Net economic benefit to farmers will be

$1800 USD per hectare

• Reduced prices and healthier fruit will

benefit brinjal consumers

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Ex Ante Assessment

Source: S.M. Fakrul Islam and George W. Norton, Bt brinjal for Fruit and Shoot Borer resistance in Bangladesh published in a book on Economic and Environmental Benefits and Costs of Transgenic Crops; Ex-Ante Assessment. TNAU, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu

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Bt Brinjal Partnership

Bangladesh Agricultural

Research Institute (BARI)

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Results of BARI Backcrossing

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BARI is the primary partner

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Borlaug would be dismayed

by Bt Brinjal opponents

• He would understand that opponents share

the agenda of the pesticide companies

• He would be disgusted with the fear and

superstition created by the anti-science

activists who disregard empirical evidence

• Finally, and most of all, he would not want

science to bypass the poor

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Facts about Bt brinjal are

available at

http://btbrinjal.tumblr.com/