Bt Brinjal: Taking it to the Farmer By Ronnie Coffman1

The current debate about Bt brinjal is reminiscent of similar concerns expressed about modern wheat and rice varieties that were introduced to Asia around 1970 during what is now called the “Green Revolution.” Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, the recipient of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize, led the Green Revolution and was my mentor at the time. Dr. M. S. Swaminathan was his close ally in India and Dr. Borlaug often spoke of Dr. Swaminathan’s key role in the Green Revolution in India. At the time, people were suspicious of the new varieties because they were shorter in stature and seemed “unnatural.” But the new, improved varieties resulted in dramatically higher yields and saved the South Asia region from famine. For more than 40 years, South Asia has relied on these new varieties and modern agricultural technology to sustain its people.

Today, the challenges are different, but no less serious. Pesticides, which are used extensively to protect agricultural crops to help feed a growing population, threaten human health as well as the environment. Somewhere around the world, between two and three people are poisoned by pesticides every single minute. According to the World Health Organization, the overall death toll from pesticides adds up to some tens of thousands of people, mainly farm workers.

In Bangladesh, as in other developing countries, many acutely toxic poisons are still widely used in agriculture despite being banned internationally because of their known effects on human health and the environment. Pesticide use in Bangladesh has doubled since the early 1990s. However, farmers fail to take appropriate measures to protect themselves: a recent survey by the World Bank found that almost all farmers sprayed their crops bare-footed, only 2% wore gloves, just 3% wore protective eye-glasses, and only 6% had simple cotton masks to protect against inhalation.

Not surprisingly, many farmers report symptoms of chronic or acute poisoning from pesticides, including headaches and dizziness, eye and skin irritation, and/or vomiting. Long-term effects on human health can include leukaemia, lung cancer, aplastic anemia, fetal death, hormonal changes, DNA damage and birth defects. Pesticide runoff into rivers can pollute groundwater supplies, and damage both freshwater and marine ecosystems. Some pesticide toxins accumulate in the food chain and are found at high levels in animals in the Arctic.

In Bangladesh, one of the most pesticide-intensive crops is brinjal, the most economically important vegetable for the nation. Yield losses from pests, in particular the fruit and shoot borer larvae, are estimated at over 50% nationwide despite the heavy use of pesticides. Surveys suggest many farmers spray brinjal plants every two days during the rainy months, applying as many as 150 sprays to the plants during the whole growing season. Children are reported to be widely employed dipping brinjal fruits in buckets of insecticide, coating themselves and the fruit in toxins.

Other than insecticides, no other proven successful methods are available to farmers to control fruit and shoot borer in brinjal. Organic and integrated pest management methods show promise, but are too complex and time-consuming to be widely successful. Accordingly, scientists at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, in partnership with Cornell University in the United States, and with funding from the Government of Bangladesh and USAID, have developed a genetically improved brinjal that does not require frequent pesticide sprays.

1Ronnie Coffman is an International Professor of Plant Breeding at Cornell University and the 2013 recipient of the World Agriculture Prize. He was Norman Borlaug’s only Ph.D. student.

This brinjal protects itself against pests by expressing a naturally occurring insect-control protein called “Bt” (from its origins in the soil bacterium bacillus thuringiensis), in the fruits and leaves of the plant. Recently, this Bt brinjal has been given full approval by the Bangladesh Government, and new Bt brinjal varieties will be available to farmers in the coming season.

Some NGOs have expressed opposition to Bt brinjal on the grounds that its effects have been inadequately studied. This is untrue: Bt proteins have been used worldwide for over a decade in food and feed crops such as corn, and are widely used in agricultural production. The Bt protein, known to scientists as Cry-1A, is only toxic to insect pests, and is completely safe for humans and all other non-target insect species. Several years of field tests in Bangladesh and India have established beyond doubt that Bt is close to 100% effective in controlling fruit and shoot borer, the main pest on brinjal.

Adopting the new Bt brinjal varieties in Bangladesh means that farmers will be able to reduce pesticide applications on their brinjal crop. It is anticipated that pesticide use can be reduced by 70-90% and farmers’ incomes will rise by an average of 100% due to higher brinjal yields and lower input costs. This adds up to a projected net benefit to Bangladesh brinjal farmers of 144,000 Taka (USD $1,800) per hectare. Significantly, it also means reduced prices and healthier fruit for brinjal consumers.

Unfortunately, some NGOs who are ideologically opposed to all genetically modified crops seem to share the agenda of the pesticide companies in opposing the introduction of Bt brinjal. In India and the Philippines, opponents have blocked farmers from accessing the Bt brinjal seeds that would enable reduced pesticide use. In Bangladesh, thankfully, strong demand from farmers has so far enabled scientists and the Government to pursue this technology further.

Opponents spread myths about Bt brinjal, claiming that farmers will not be able to save seed, will become dependent on multinational seed companies, and that Bt brinjal will eliminate traditional brinjal varieties. These allegations are untrue: farmers will be able and encouraged to save seed, which after all have been produced for the common good by Bangladeshi scientists in the public sector, not by private interests. Brinjal cannot pollinate over long distances, so farmers can still grow traditional brinjal varieties nearby without fear of losing their genetic integrity.

If Dr. Borlaug were with us today, he would be dismayed and disgusted with the worldwide cloud of fear and superstition that surrounds the use of biotech crops, including Bt brinjal. He would abhor the anti-science activists who have no regard for empirical evidence and are denying farmers in developing countries the right to make choices about the varieties of crops they wish to grow. Most of all, he would not want science to bypass the resource-poor smallholder farmers in developing countries for whom modern agricultural technology is the difference between food and famine

In the final assessment, the people of Bangladesh have only two options. The first — and best option — is to adopt genetically improved Bt brinjal in order to slash pesticide use and protect human health and the environment. The second is to continue dosing conventional brinjal with vast amounts of toxic pesticides, which puts the health of farmers and consumers at serious risk. Activists who campaign against Bt brinjal promote the second option of continued pesticide poisoning, cancers and environmental damage. Farmers and scientists who campaign for the first option — to adopt Bt brinjal — are promoting greater brinjal yields, reduced pesticide use, and a healthier brinjal crop for farmers and consumers. We all know which option Norman Borlaug would choose.

Facts about Bt brinjal are available at http://btbrinjal.tumblr.com/.