Transgenic Cotton May Benefit Alabama Farmers and Consumers

AUBURN, Ala.—There's a new gene in those cotton jeans and the benefits to two of Alabama's top industries--cotton and textiles--may once again prove the value of industry and Auburn University working together.

The gene is actually in the cotton plant, not the fiber-producing boll. The transgenic (extra gene-containing) cotton is called BXN by Calgene Inc., the California-based company that developed it. For the past three years AU scientists have worked with BXN cotton, and this is the first year, these transgenic plants were grown to maturity at the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. They are now ready for harvesting at the Tennessee Valley Substation in Belle Mina.

The extra gene comes from a bacteria that is capable of breaking down the active ingredient in bromoxynil, a widely used herbicide. The advantage for BXN cotton is that it can be sprayed with bromoxynil, which kills a broad spectrum of weeds but leaves the gene-protected cotton unharmed. Cotton plants without the extra gene would be destroyed, just like weeds, when sprayed with bromoxynil.

"It is amazing technology in that we can spray the transgenic cotton with high rates of bromoxynil and it is not damaged. Yet two feet away normal cotton sprayed with a much lower rate of the herbicide is totally destroyed in a few days," noted Mike Patterson, an AU agronomist who has worked with BXN cotton for the past three years.

Whether BXN cotton is accepted by farmers will likely be determined by the quality and quantity of cotton it produces. It has the advantage of allowing farmers to wait and see what, if any, weeds emerge in their cotton field, then zap these weeds with bromoxynil or other postemergence herbicides. It is possible this lack of competition with weeds would provide a more uniform, cleaner crop, which directly equates to lower production costs for the farmer and possibly lower costs for the consumer.

Transgenic cotton also provides an environmental advantage in that bromoxynil has a short half-life and little soil activity, meaning it is much less of an environmental threat than many other herbicides. It is estimated that by the year 2012, transgenic varieties, biological control methods, and integrated pest management systems will replace 80 percent of the pesticides currently used on cotton.

Success of transgenics and other pest management systems is crucial to agriculture in general and cotton is at particular risk because of the high number and volume of sprays necessary to produce a crop. If cotton is at risk, so is the State's textile industry, because 52 percent of the cost of textile operations goes for buying cotton.

"BXN cotton is not a panacea to save cotton farmers or the textile industry, but it can be a tremendously effective tool--a good first step," Patterson concluded.

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
by Roy Roberson

August 12, 1992