A divided house over GM technology for cotton seed
05 Apr '06
1 min read
With falling cotton prices across the world, Africa's biggest cotton producer Mali faces severe crisis.
Cotton growers are not getting adequate prices are paid as low as 160 West African CFA per kilogram of cotton.
American and European cotton producers receive huge subsidies and to oppose that, countries like Mali have registered complaint at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which agreed to solve this problem by 2013.
Till the problem sorted out, Government officials and scientists are opting for genetically modified seeds.
But, this seems somewhat difficult as some activists are strongly protesting the idea.
A coordinator for Mali's Institute of Rural Economy, Siaka Dembele, says that research on genetically modified technology, should be allowed.
He views that Mali's cotton industry has entered a crucial stage, while nearly a third of the world's cotton produced, is genetically modified.
He says GM experimentation is already being conducted in neighboring Burkina Faso and that Mali should soon follow suit, otherwise the country will lag behind.
Dembele is not ready to bite the argument that cotton growers will have to depend on multinational companies or developed countries.
He says special seeds will initially be bought, but afterwards, could be modified to adjust with the local conditions.
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