when genetically modified (gm) plants were introduced in 1996, some researchers said pests were too smart to be controlled and would eventually develop resistance. There is now evidence that the

Thanks to pesticide usage falling with Bt cotton, another pest is assuming menacing proportions.

Bob Crebas still introduces himself as "an old hippy.' But these days it is not recycled washing machines and bric-a-brac that the Dutchman trades in. He has swapped all this for fashion collections made from stinging nettles, designed and produced by his fast-growing business Brennels.nl. Four years ago, Crebas and his business partner were selling second-hand wares through a trading website called Marktplaats.nl when they were approached by eBay, the hugely successful auction website, and made the kind of offer you can't refuse. The American firm bought out Marktplaats.nl for

THE country's best known secret on genetically modified (GM) crop has finally tumbled out of the closet. The government has been mute witness to the fact that two-thirds of the cotton produced in the country, the world's second largest raw cotton producer

Even as life science companies in seed business and vocal lobbyists for pro-genetically modified (GM) crops combine to make propagandist noises about the goodness of the technology and rapid spread of area under GM crops worldwide comes the news that pests are slowly developing resistance to transgenic crops. Currently, corn (maize), soyabean and cotton are the major field crops in which transgenic varieties have been commercialised. Cotton was the first major field GM crop to go commercial in 1996 in the US. Incidentally, the US is the world's largest producer of soyabean and corn.

India has overtaken the US to become the second largest cotton producing country in the world, after China, a study by International Service For the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application(ISAAA) said. India, which was having one of the lowest cotton yields in the world, has become a net cotton exporter, potentially five million bales in 2007-08, the study said. Bt cton was a major factor contributing to higher rate of production from 15.8 million bales in 2001-02 to31millionbalesin2007-08,itsaid.

Genetically modified Bt Cotton acreage in the country rose 63 per cent to 6.2 million hectares in 2007, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications said in its latest global report. India's total cotton acreage stood at 9.4 million hectares in 2007. "India's Bt cotton story is remarkable,' ISAAA head Clive James said in a release. The global agency is engaged in the promotion of biotech crops. For the third consecutive year, the country experienced the highest rise in Bt cotton acreage in the world.

There are attempts to attribute everything good with cotton cultivation to GM cotton and on those grounds, bring in other GM crops.

Cotton production in India is likely to sustain its growth trend during the current season. The Cotton Advisory Board (cab) under the ministry of textiles, at its recent meeting, has estimated the production at 310 lakh bales of 170 kg each - about 11 per cent higher than last season's figure of 280 lakh bales.