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March 7, 2008
Source:
GMO Compass
A new compendium of studies
addressing the use of genetically modified plants in South Asia
forecast major economic benefits. Drought- and salt-tolerant
rice may provide a added value of about three billion US dollars
for India.
The report was compiled by the
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Entitled "Economic and
environmental benefits and costs of transgenic crops: Ex-Ante
assessment", the publication was issued in February 2007 and
contains information gathered from studies conducted in the past
four years. Its aim is illumination of the impact of transgenic
crops in South Asia during the next one-and-a-half decades.
Particular emphasis was placed on India and Bangladesh.
The
assessment was directed towards plants bearing traits currently
being developed by the international Agricultural Biotechnology
Support Programme II (ABSPII).
In both
countries, the greatest benefits are projected to arise from
drought- and salt-tolerant (DST) rice. Its use is expected to
provide roughly three billion US dollars for India and more than
one million US dollars for Bangladesh. These and other
projections are outlined in the table below.
Potential
economic and environmental benefits also are indicated by other
products that are under ABSPII development in the region. In
India, this denotes varieties of sunflower, groundnut, eggplant
and potato that are resistant to insects or to pathogens. In
Bangladesh, tests were performed with the rice and potato lines,
as well as with insect-resistant eggplant and chickpea.
Funded by
the United States Agency for International Development, the
ABSPII is an organisation under the leadership of Cornell
University. At the launch of the compendium, Susan E. Henry,
Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell,
spoke of ASBSPII as "delivering economic and environment
benefits to resource-constrained farmers."
For a copy
of the publication contact
Dr. KN Selvaraj of
the TNAU, Coimbatore
|
Country |
Product |
Trait |
Initial Year of
Benefits |
Net Present Value
(US$ Million) |
|
India |
DST Rice |
Tolerance of drought
and salt |
2012 |
$3258-$3343 |
|
India |
Bt Eggplant |
Resistance to insects |
2008 |
$25-$142 |
|
India |
TSVR Groundnut |
Resistance to the
tobacco streak virus |
2012 |
$673-$1047 |
|
India |
TSVR Sunflower |
Resistance to the
tobacco streak virus |
2012 |
$34-$91 |
|
India |
LBR Potato |
Resistance to late
blight |
2012 |
$613-$987 |
|
Bangladesh |
DST Rice |
Tolerance of drought
and salt |
2011 |
$119-$216 |
|
Bangladesh |
Bt Eggplant |
Resistance to insects |
2010 |
$28-$65 |
|
Bangladesh |
LBR Potato |
Resistance to late
blight |
2010 |
$124-$231 |
|
Bangladesh |
PBR Chickpea |
Resistance to pod
borer |
2010 |
$19-$56 |
See also
on GMO Compass:
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