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Cotton is an important global crop producing a range of essential products from all natural fibre to vegetable oil and animal feed.
Two of Monsanto's cotton biotech traits are currently available commercially in Australian cotton seed varieties; Bollgard II® and Roundup Ready® cotton.
Cotton varieties incorporating these Monsanto traits have the same lint and oil quality as conventional cotton lines. However they offer significant production and environmental benefits such as fewer pesticide applications, easier crop management and increased profitability.
Bollgard II cotton provides in built protection against the larvae of Helicoverpa sp, one of the cotton industry's most significant insect pests. It is a second generation product, which follows the introduction of INGARD® cotton in 1996. When compared to INGARD, Bollgard II contains an additional protein which improves the stability of insect control during the growing season and offers improved benefits for resistance management.
Roundup Ready cotton has been developed to tolerate applications of Roundup Ready® herbicide, a unique Roundup® branded agricultural herbicide formulation labeled for use 'over the top' in Roundup Ready cotton systems. The ability to use Roundup Ready herbicide increases grower's options for effective, flexible and environmentally sustainable weed management.
Bollgard II and Roundup Ready cotton offer more efficient and sustainable cotton production systems which can improve the environmental sustainability of cotton production in Australia.
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