Tanzania to Begin Confined Trials For Growing Genetically Modified Cotton

Tanzania will begin confined trials for the production of genetically modified cotton, the Tanzania Cotton Board said.

Tanzania, which has since set up a legal framework for the genetically modified cotton strain, or BT, won’t begin commercial production of the cotton for at least three years, Marco Mtunga, an official at the Dar es Salaam-based board said yesterday in an e-mail.

Planned introduction of the cotton and provision of credit to farmers are part of a plan to almost triple the nation’s output, according to the cotton board.

Lint cotton output may rise to 260,000 metric tons in 2014-15 from an expected 90,000 tons this season through improved productivity, extending credit to farmers and introducing contract farming, Mtunga said Aug. 16.

Commercial banks had agreed to offer loans for contract farming, and the government was finalizing plans to set up an agricultural bank, Mtunga said.

As many as 500,000 Tanzanian farmers cultivate about 485,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of cotton in the country’s northern, coastal and western regions, according to the board.

BT cotton is a genetically modified strain that produces toxins lethal to bollworms, a serious threat to crops.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at fojambo@bloomberg.net

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