Achievements
in Plant
Biotechnology
2000

The 2000 growing season marked the fifth commercial year in the U.S., Australia and Mexico for Bollgard insect-protected cotton, and the fourth year for Roundup Ready herbicide-tolerant cotton in the U.S. A third product, called Bollgard/Roundup Ready stacked trait cotton has been available in the U.S. since 1997.

All three biotech crops continue to provide significant economic advantages. In fact, the vast majority (95 to 98 percent) of surveyed U.S. growers who planted one or more of Monsanto's enhanced cotton crops in 2000 reported satisfaction with the products, which they described as providing a good value over conventional cotton. In all, surveyed U.S. growers reported an average economic advantage across all three crops of $21.13 per acre.

Bollgard Cotton
Bollgard cotton contains an insecticidal protein (B.t.) that provides season-long control of tobacco budworm and pink bollworm, and provides a high level of suppression for cotton bollworm. When insect larvae feed on Bollgard cotton plants, the B.t. protein reduces the larvae's ability to survive and cause damage. As a result, growers can reduce or eliminate their use of chemical insecticides for these insect pests.

Cotton containing Bollgard technology was grown commercially throughout the cotton-producing states in the U.S. in 2000 and nearly one million total acres in China, Australia (Ingard), Mexico, Argentina and South Africa.

Benefits
Studies conducted in 2000 confirmed that Bollgard cotton continues to provide important economic and environmental advantages. Economic comparison studies across the U.S. Cotton Belt in 2000 found that Bollgard reduced total insecticide sprays from 5.6 times a season to 2.4, increased lint yield by 40 lbs. per acre and provided growers with $36.00 per acre more return than conventional varieties.

Studies performed by the National Institute of Agricultural Technology in Argentina in 2000 found that Bollgard cotton growers there applied insecticides nearly 64 percent fewer times than growers of conventional cotton. The research also showed that Argentine growers received an average economic advantage of US$65 per hectare (US$26 per acre) with Bollgard cotton compared to conventional varieties.

Monsanto's seed companies offered U.S. growers a wider choice of Roundup Ready cotton varieties in 2000 than ever before.

In China, the advantages of Bollgard were even more significant. Farmers in Hebei Province who grew Bollgard in 2000 realized US$144.50 per hectare (US$57.80 per acre) more than farmers who grew conventional varieties. They also reduced the amount of insecticide they applied by 264,000 gallons.

Studies over several years have shown that B.t. has no effect on non-lepidopteran insects, like aphids, boll weevils and whiteflies. It also has been shown to be inactive on beneficial insects and parasites.

Innovations
Bollgard II - a second generation biotech cotton - is under development and was tested in hundreds of approved field trials in the U.S., Australia, Argentina, Mexico and South Africa last year. It contains an additional B.t. gene that increases Bollgard's insect control spectrum to include beet armyworm, fall armyworm and loopers. A significant advantage of Bollgard II is that the second B.t. Gene reduces the likelihood of insects becoming resistant to the proteins.

Roundup Ready Cotton
Roundup Ready cotton varieties are tolerant of Roundup herbicide, which enables growers to apply Roundup over the top of growing crops for wider spectrum, more effective weed control. Grown commercially since 1997, Roundup Ready cotton (including Bollgard/Roundup Ready stacked trait cotton) was planted on over eight million U.S. acres last year. 2000 also marked the commercialization of Roundup Ready cotton in Australia.

Benefits
Monsanto's seed companies offered U.S. growers a wider choice of Roundup Ready cotton varieties in 2000 than ever before, and growers who planted Monsanto seed received significant economic benefits. In on-farm trials, growers of Roundup Ready cotton who used Roundup Ultra herbicide with conservation tillage techniques (a technique in which seeds are planted with little or no disturbance of the soil) realized an average economic benefit of $40.99 an acre over conventional cotton systems.

Ninety-six percent of surveyed U.S. Roundup Ready cotton growers reported they were satisfied with the system, and 94 percent reported they perceive the product as an average to very good value.

In 2000, over four million U.S. acres were planted with Monsanto's stacked cotton varieties

Bollgard/Roundup Ready Stacked Trait Cotton
Crops with more than one biotech trait are called "stacked trait" plants, and cotton stacked with both Bollgard insect resistance and Roundup Ready herbicide tolerance has been available commercially in the U.S. since 1997.

Grower Satisfaction
In 2000, over four million U.S. acres were planted with Monsanto's stacked cotton varieties. Of those growers who were asked to compare the stacked trait cotton to conventional systems in a 2000 survey, 95 percent reported satisfaction with the stacked product, while 87 to 97 percent reported that stacked trait cotton provided weed and insect control that was better than or equal to conventional systems.