www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

The Australian cotton industry?s investment in gene technology has been
integral to the economic and environmental sustainability of the Australian
cotton industry, which helps underpin the viability of many rural
communities.
In a new video interview and podcast available on the Conversations about
Plant Biotechnology Web site: [www.monsanto.com],
Australian farmer Tom McKeon shares how biotech cotton with insect- and
weed-control traits benefit the financial viability of his farm ? increasing
yields, reducing pesticide spraying and improving crop vigor.

?Cotton will always have, I think, a main part to play in the Australian
rural industries ? principally because of the technology that it?s been able
to adopt,? says Tom McKeon, who farms 5,800 hectares (11,400 acres) in New
South Wales (NSW) ? an area that produces approximately two-thirds of
Australia?s cotton.

?The market pressures are always there, making the financial viability of ?
any rural industry in Australia at the moment very hard,? says McKeon. ?The
only gains we are making on that financial viability is through improved
varieties ? the use of new technologies including Bollgard and Roundup
Ready.?

Herbicide-tolerant biotech cotton can reduce the amount of tillage and
herbicide required on cotton crops to control weeds. ?What Roundup Ready has
really allowed is the elimination of cultivation altogether. And cultivation
is something that was causing us problems with soil structure. ? We?ve also
seen, quite significant gains in crop vigor with lack of residual-type
herbicides,? comments McKeon on this farming technology that was first
adopted by Australian growers in 1996.

According to Cotton Australia, the use of transgenic cotton has also become
a key component of the industry?s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy,
which combines natural controls with pest-specific chemistry to reduce the
spraying or use of pesticides. During the last decade, the adoption of
biotechnology has provided a foundation for the rapid adoption of IPM
practices, which in turn have helped reduce overall insecticide use by 70
percent. (CRDC, 2005)

?We have more to gain than to lose from the adoption of technologies. And, I
certainly respect people?s ? reticence to take on and adopt new
technologies,? says McKeon. ?But, I think, if there?s an open mindedness
about the education process and learning about these technologies, people
will come to accept them as not only being a part of what is happening, but
a necessary part of what is going to happen in rural industries in becoming
efficient.?

In addition to McKeon?s video, visitors to the Conversations about Plant
Biotechnology Web site can view conversations with four of his fellow
Australian farmers ? Robert Tuck, Paul Brimblecombe, Rob Newell and Betsy
Turner ? who discuss how biotechnology in Australia has decreased pesticide
sprayings and increased net farm income.

Conversations about Plant Biotechnology is designed to give a voice and a
face to the farmers and families who grow GM crops and the experts who
research and study the benefits of biotechnology in agriculture. The Web
site contains nearly 60 two- to three-minute, extremely candid,
straightforward and compelling video segments with the people who know the
technology best. The Web site is hosted by Monsanto Company ? a leading
global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality.

Editor?s Notes:
Bollgard cotton contains a protein from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that
protects cotton plants from specific lepidopteron insect pests.

Roundup Ready cotton contains in-plant tolerance to RoundupŠ agricultural
herbicides. RoundupŠ is a registered trademark of Monsanto Company.

Pesticides registered by the U.S. EPA will not cause unreasonable adverse
effects on man or the environment, when used in accordance with label
directions.

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