IAR cotton breeder wants non Bt on farms for higher yield

 

A cotton breeder and principal investigator of 2018 Biotechnology (Bt) cotton varieties from Institute for Agricultural Research, Zaria, Dr. M.Z Mohammed has advised farmers to embrace the inter planting of the 2 newly registered cotton seeds (MAHYCO C 567 and MAHYCO C 571) that came along with the two earlier released hybrid Bt cottons package as Refuse In Bag (RIB) for maximum yield and environmental management.

Dr. M.Z Mohammed said this after the registration of the two hybrid cottons otherwise known as RIB at Ibadan recently.

 Mohammed said it is important that farmers complied to the planting of small portion of non Bt cotton into real hybrid Bt cottons farms for the purpose of getting more yield for commercial production of textile productivity to reawakening our economy, adding that the registration of the non Bt cotton seed was to ensure fulfilment of protocol as they were not meant to be sold, but rather comes as RIB to farmers.

He pointed further that farmers must endeavour not to throw away the RIB so as not to defeat the purpose of commercial Bt cotton production with more high yield as less money is being spent on insects’ spray due to the complimentary role of the non Bt cotton in the farms that would be helping to hid the cotton bud from being attacked by pest and diseases.

According to him ‘’The two cotton varieties have the same prototype of the earlier released hybrid cotton in 2018. The purpose of the registration of the two varieties are to be used as what is  term as Refuse In Bag (RIB), and the RIB  essence is to prolong the resistant factor of the real Bt cotton when the resistant slow down or break up. It is necessary to prevent any kind of attack from insects or other diseases that come to attack the real Bt cotton in the farms or want to feed on the pathogen of the plant. By using some percentage of non Bt seeds in  the Bt bag or the package is to allow the cotton bud to be hidden on the non Bt which is susceptible to the insect, and so that farmers can benefit from the advantages of growing Bt cotton for higher yield and resistant to borer insects. The pointing of the non Bt assures the farmers higher yield and lower insect spray with less economic cost’’

Dr. Mohammed said further that ‘’ Farmers may be greedy thinking that having 100% Bt cotton on farms will give higher yield on the field without inter planting RIB as farmers in India had been said to be throwing away this non Bt seed in bag because they want 100% Bt seeds being planted. However the implication is that as far as the RIB is not planted, the real Bt cottons will be exposed to insect, and the plant will be less resistant to pest attack. The farmers can be convinced with free disease of the plant and high yield when inter planted with non Bt cotton and you will grow this for many years.

Speaking whether the non Bt cotton seeds would be sold to farmers separately different from the real Bt hybrid cotton seeds, Mohammed said they were not going to be sold to farmers, but rather shall come in package as complimentary content in a bag for planting purposes to prevent pest and diseases from attacking the real cotton.