Natalie
University of Delaware
There are a variety of pesticides used on cotton, but much of the cotton ( as much as
45%) in the United States has a pesticide which is part of the GMO plant. It is called BT
cotton from Monsanto and contains a toxin from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis. The
BT cotton expresses this toxin which is not naturally produced by plants.
Some of the most common pesticides used in cotton are used in some of the poorest parts
of the world.
From the Organic Trade Association Website:
http://www.ota.com/organic/environment/cotton_environment.html
“The Environmental Protection Agency considers six of the top 15 pesticides used on
cotton in 2000 in the United States as "possible," "likely," "probable," or "known" human
carcinogens (acephate, dichloropropene, fluometuron, pendimethalin, tribufos, and
trifluralin).” The EPA is working hard to find safer alternatives to replace these
chemicals, but in poor countries in Africa and Asia these newer, safer pesticides are
sometimes outside the financial reach of cotton farmers.
From “Cotton and Pesticides in India”
http://www.lohascouture.com/en/behind-fashion/behind-fibre/india-cottonpesticides.html
“No other place use so much pesticides as cotton fields. Older pesticides including
Monocrotophos, Emporet, and ETR, which are banned in Europe already many years, are
still sold in India. Farmers have no idea what the red warning triangle showing a skull is
printed on the pesticides container means.”
According to a PBS Documentary, indebted Indian farmers commit suicide by drinking
the pesticides they use on their cotton:
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/07/seeds_of_suicid.html
http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/in-india-gm-crops-come-at-a-high-price/
“For small farmers, the consequences can be tragic. When weak monsoon rains led to
crop failures in 2005, hundreds of debt-ridden Bt cotton farmers in the states of Andhra
Pradesh and Maharashtra committed suicide by drinking pesticide. A PBS documentary
on the suicides by Chad Heeter reported that the indebtedness was largely due to
expensive genetically modified seeds and pesticides. And each growing season, the
suicides of indebted cotton farmers continue to make headlines in India.”
Organic Alternatives:
Organic Cotton Hoodie from Patagonia A company that has high standards for sustainability!
http://www.patagonia.com/us/home
Organic Socks from Cotton Acres
http://www.cottonacres.com/organic-cotton-socks.html
Sustainable cotton growing means a cotton crop that is free from pesticides as well as not
grown from GMO cotton.
Here is the program to raise Cleaner Cotton from the “Sustainable Cotton Project”:
The key points are reducing the amount of the highest toxicity pesticides by using
biological control agents and beneficial insects. This program requires serious
monitoring of the fields for both beneficial and pest insects.
http://www.sustainablecotton.org/pages/show/cleaner-cotton-field-program
The Cleaner Cotton™ Field Program works with small and medium sized conventional cotton
farmers interested in reducing chemical use, integrating more biologically based management
practices, thus becoming better stewards of the land, air and water in the region. They
produce a high-quality fiber while minimizing the chemical impact on our air, water and soil.
Five components are key to our program:
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
• Our growers look at their farms as a whole system.
• Biological controls serve as the first line of defense.
• Reduced-risk chemicals used to control pest outbreaks to prevent economic losses.
Monitoring
• SCP field scout provides free weekly monitoring of pest and beneficial insect populations.
• Monitoring helps growers understand the role of biological controls in crop protection.
• Our program combats pests with a variety of beneficial insect habitat strategies and releases
of beneficial insects when needed.
Farmer-to-Farmer
• Our growers serve as mentors to their peers.
• SCP facilitates information sharing among Cleaner Cotton™ growers.