Introduction of second-generation insect-protected biotech cotton in Burkina Faso, West Africa: Assessment of benefits after first year of broad adoption

Since 2003, Monsanto has been working with numerous stakeholders in Burkina Faso to assess the potential value of transgenic insect control technology in cotton, the country's leading export crop (>50% of export dollars), and its leading industry in terms of employment. Five years of field trials determined that the technology could potentially raise grower profits substantially, largely by increasing yields and saving caterpillar insecticide input costs. In 2008, Bollgard II cotton was granted regulatory approval for commercial cultivation. In 2009, its first year of commercial production, Bollgard II was grown on roughly 125,000 Ha, or 30% of Burkina Faso’s cotton acres. Results, reported herein, from the first year of a two-year socio-economic assessment seem to confirm predictions concerning the value of the technology to small growers under broad commercial production.