Considerations about cotton gene escape in Brazil: a review

The cotton crop has become recover its importance as a major crop in Brazil. Many growers use good management practices in their fields. One of the new technologies now available for cotton growers in many countries are the genetically modified varieties. The global area of genetically modified crop varieties has grown to 58,7 million of ha, planted by 16 countries. Although GM cotton could eventually be widely adopted, six countries present larger potential benefit of its use: China, India, US and Australia, which already are using these varieties and; Brazil and Pakistan, that still area evaluating the possibility to adopt this technology. The safety of GM varieties for the environment has been one of the main concerns addressed in the case adoption of GM cotton in Brazil. The main concern is the risk of gene flow between GM cotton and its native relatives in Brazil. Fifty species of cotton belonging to the Gossypium generum are distributed in the following continents: Asia, Africa, Oceania and America. In this paper we address the scientific basis of gene flow in cotton and some of the alternatives to make the GM technology available and safe to Brazilian growers and the environment.