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In making a case for the subthreshold protection that Bollgard cotton provides the cotton grower, several factors require additional consideration and scrutiny based upon the numerous events that have been observed since commercialization in 1995. Though adoption of the Bollgard technology over the past five years has varied across the cotton belt, steady increases in the number of acres planted to the technology either as Bollgard or Bollgard with Roundup Ready have occurred. Bollgard use has increased in many areas that are traditionally low infestation or infrequent spray areas. The higher adoption in these areas is primarily due to enhanced yields realized in a large part due to subthreshold protection. We contend that the subtreshold protection provided by the Bollgard trait has significantly enhanced the per acre economic value (beyond chemical application replacement costs) due to the additional yields which can not be consistently matched with the use of traditional chemistries on nonBollgard cotton. It maybe debated that the sale of products generated from emerging technologies tends in part to initially stem form novel excitement; however, the sale of technologies that lack value tend to quickly decline despite the economic sector in which they occur. |
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©National Cotton Council, Memphis TN |
Document last modified XXXXXX, XXX XX 2001
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