Bt-cotton's polemic in Indonesia

English. The purpose of this paper is to present the scientific information in the midst current debate of the benefits and risks involved in the planting of Bt-cotton in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The public are questioning any risks to human health and biological diversity with the release of plants with artificial construct that contains genetic material from bacteria, viruses and other genetic parasites. The current evidence showed that there is no reason for such concerns on the potential for allergic reaction to cotton products or the possible increase in production of toxic compounds and likewise the use of antibiotic resistance marker-genes should not distress the public. The effects on the parasites, predator and soil-microbia are very sparse. The Bt-toxin genes are not pollen-transmitted as plastids genes in cotton are inherited by the maternal parent. Reduction in pesticide use and improvement in cotton productivity are the main benefit that may result from the use of Bt-cotton in the USA. However, the development of insect resistance to the Cry IA(c) insecticidal protein will cause to fail those benefits. Some regulatory and monitoring systems have to be established to maintain the long term use of Bt-cotton. In the face of scientific uncertainty in the use of transgenic plants, the Indonesian government follows pre-cautionary approaches, where risk assessment and risk management have to be carried out prior to the use of transgenic plants

unknown. Dalam makalah ini disajikan informasi ilmiah dengan adanya perdebatan mengenai manfaat dan risiko penanaman kapas-Bt di Sulawesi Selatan. Masyarakat mempertanyakan risiko kapas-Bt terhadap kesehatan manusia dan keanekaragaman hayati dengan pelepasan tanaman hasil konstruksi yang mengandung bahan-bahan genetik dari bakteria, virus serta parasit-parasit lainnya. Bukti-bukti menunjukkan bahwa kapas-Bt tidak berpotensi menyebabkan alergi atau menghasilkan bahan beracun, demikian juga penggunaan gen penanda yang menyebabkan ketahanan terhadap antibiotik tidak perlu dikuatirkan. Efeknya terhadap parasit-parasit, predator-predator dan mikroba tanah sangat kecil. Gen-gen penghasil toksin tersebut tidak tersebar melalui tepung sari, karena gen-gen plastid hanya dapat diwariskan melalui tetua betina. Manfaat utama penggunaan kapas-Bt di Amerika Serikat adalah pengurangan pemakaian insektisida dan peningkatan produktivitas. Berkembangnya resistensi serangga terhadap protein yang dihasilkan gen Cry IA(c) akan menggagalkan manfaat tersebut di atas. Untuk itu perlu pengaturan dan pemantauan untuk menjaga keberlanjutan penggunaan kapas-Bt. Menghadapi ketidakpastian ilmiah dalam pemanfaatan tanaman transgenik, pemerintah Indonesia menganut prinsip kehati-hatian yang mensyaratkan dilakukannya penilaian dan pengelolaan risiko sebelum penggunaan tanaman transgenik