A question of integrity: Variants of Bt Cotton, pesticides and productivity in Pakistan
Bt cotton remains one of the most widely grown biotech crops among smallholder farmers in lower income countries, and numerous studies attest to its advantages. However, the effectiveness of Bt toxin, which depends on many technical constraints, is heterogeneous. In Pakistan, the diffusion of Bt cot...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Wiley
2017
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146200 |
| _version_ | 1855538756760633344 |
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| author | Ma, Xingliang Smale, Melinda Spielman, David J. Zambrano, Patricia Nazli, Hina Zaidi, Fatima |
| author_browse | Ma, Xingliang Nazli, Hina Smale, Melinda Spielman, David J. Zaidi, Fatima Zambrano, Patricia |
| author_facet | Ma, Xingliang Smale, Melinda Spielman, David J. Zambrano, Patricia Nazli, Hina Zaidi, Fatima |
| author_sort | Ma, Xingliang |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Bt cotton remains one of the most widely grown biotech crops among smallholder farmers in lower income countries, and numerous studies attest to its advantages. However, the effectiveness of Bt toxin, which depends on many technical constraints, is heterogeneous. In Pakistan, the diffusion of Bt cotton occurred despite a weak regulatory system and without seed quality control; whether or not many varieties sold as Bt are in fact Bt is also questionable. We utilise nationally representative sample data to test the effects of Bt cotton use on productivity. Unlike previous studies, we invoke several indicators of Bt identity: variety name, official approval status, farmer belief, laboratory tests of Bt presence in plant tissue, and biophysical assays measuring Bt effectiveness. Only farmer belief affects cotton productivity in the standard production model, which does not treat Bt appropriately as damage‐abating. In the damage control framework, all Bt indicators reduce damage from pests. Biophysical indicators have the largest effect and official approval has the weakest. Findings have implications for impact measurement. For policy‐makers, they suggest the need, on ethical and productivity grounds, to improve variety information and monitor variety integrity closer to point of sale. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace146200 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| publisherStr | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1462002024-10-25T08:05:06Z A question of integrity: Variants of Bt Cotton, pesticides and productivity in Pakistan Ma, Xingliang Smale, Melinda Spielman, David J. Zambrano, Patricia Nazli, Hina Zaidi, Fatima damage cotton genetic engineering productivity pesticides genetically modified organisms Bt cotton remains one of the most widely grown biotech crops among smallholder farmers in lower income countries, and numerous studies attest to its advantages. However, the effectiveness of Bt toxin, which depends on many technical constraints, is heterogeneous. In Pakistan, the diffusion of Bt cotton occurred despite a weak regulatory system and without seed quality control; whether or not many varieties sold as Bt are in fact Bt is also questionable. We utilise nationally representative sample data to test the effects of Bt cotton use on productivity. Unlike previous studies, we invoke several indicators of Bt identity: variety name, official approval status, farmer belief, laboratory tests of Bt presence in plant tissue, and biophysical assays measuring Bt effectiveness. Only farmer belief affects cotton productivity in the standard production model, which does not treat Bt appropriately as damage‐abating. In the damage control framework, all Bt indicators reduce damage from pests. Biophysical indicators have the largest effect and official approval has the weakest. Findings have implications for impact measurement. For policy‐makers, they suggest the need, on ethical and productivity grounds, to improve variety information and monitor variety integrity closer to point of sale. 2017 2024-06-21T09:06:09Z 2024-06-21T09:06:09Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146200 en Wiley Ma, Xingliang; Smale, Melinda; Spielman, David J.; Zambrano, Patricia; Nazli, Hina; and Zaidi, Fatima. 2017. A question of integrity: Variants of Bt Cotton, pesticides and productivity in Pakistan. Journal of Agricultural Economics 68(2): 366-385. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12174 |
| spellingShingle | damage cotton genetic engineering productivity pesticides genetically modified organisms Ma, Xingliang Smale, Melinda Spielman, David J. Zambrano, Patricia Nazli, Hina Zaidi, Fatima A question of integrity: Variants of Bt Cotton, pesticides and productivity in Pakistan |
| title | A question of integrity: Variants of Bt Cotton, pesticides and productivity in Pakistan |
| title_full | A question of integrity: Variants of Bt Cotton, pesticides and productivity in Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | A question of integrity: Variants of Bt Cotton, pesticides and productivity in Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | A question of integrity: Variants of Bt Cotton, pesticides and productivity in Pakistan |
| title_short | A question of integrity: Variants of Bt Cotton, pesticides and productivity in Pakistan |
| title_sort | question of integrity variants of bt cotton pesticides and productivity in pakistan |
| topic | damage cotton genetic engineering productivity pesticides genetically modified organisms |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146200 |
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