布基纳法索放弃转基因棉花
翻译：jrry86；原文链接：http://www.gmwatch.org/2016-articles/16677-burkina-faso-abandons-gm-bt-cotton
The country’s exit from Bt cotton cultivation may have implications for Africa’s stance on GM crops in general, says a new briefing. Report by Claire Robinson
一个新的简报说，该国退出Bt棉花的种植可能会给非洲对转基因作物的总体立场带来影响。Claire Robinson报道
In a move that could help decide the future of GM crops in Africa, Burkina Faso has abandoned GM Bt cotton. The country has begun a complete phaseout of the crop, citing the inferior lint quality of GM cultivars.
布基纳法索放弃了转基因棉花，这一举动可能会有助于决定非洲转基因作物的未来。该国开始了逐步完全淘汰转基因棉花的进程，理由是转基因棉花的棉绒质量很差。
This story of a major GMO failure is documented in a new briefing by Brian Dowd-Uribe, Assistant Professor in the International Studies Department at the University of San Francisco and Matthew A. Schnurr, Associate Professor in the Department of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University. The briefing appears in the journal African Affairs, which is published by Oxford University Press.
由旧金山大学国际研究系的助理教授Brian Dowd-Uribe和加拿大达尔豪斯大学国际发展研究系的副教授Matthew A. Schnurr发表的最新简报【1】记载了一个重大的转基因失败案例。这份简报出现在牛津大学出版社出版的《非洲事务》杂志上。
The briefing traces the rapid decline of Burkina Faso’s cotton crop following the introduction of GM Bt cotton. At the time, Burkinabè cotton was renowned for its high quality, the product of a highly successful non-GM breeding programme founded by the French government and spanning 70 years.
这份简报追踪了引进转基因Bt棉花之后布国棉花作物快速沉沦的轨迹。过去，布基纳法索棉花以其高质量而闻名，这是法国政府资助的跨度70年的极其成功的非转基因育种项目的成果。
The main goal of the breeding programme was to create cultivars that were well adapted to the growing conditions in West Africa and had the desired quality characteristics, such as a high ginning ratio (the percentage of the desired cotton fibre per unit weight of cotton delivered to the factory) and long staple length.
该育种项目的目标是创造出高度适应西非种植条件的品种并获得所期望的高质量特性，例如高轧棉率（运到工厂的每单位重量棉花能轧出的符合期望的棉花纤维的比例）和高纤维长度。
GM Bt cotton adoption prompts decline in quality
采用转基因Bt棉花促使质量下降
When Burkina Faso first grew GM Bt cotton in field trials, officials were initially satisfied with the quality of the cotton, the briefing states. The quality characteristics for which Burkinabè cotton was famous were maintained.
简报说，当布国首次进行转基因Bt棉花大田试验时，一开始官方对棉花的质量非常满意。布国棉花著名的优质特性保持了不变。
GM Bt cotton was commercialised in Burkina Faso in 2009. But during the first years of commercial release, Burkinabè officials noticed declines in staple lengths and ginning ratios. Monsanto employees blamed water stress and other weather problems. However, the quality problems persisted and by the 2013/14 season over two-thirds of the nation’s crop was classified as lower-quality medium staple length, with only a third retaining its previous classification as medium to high staple length. The ginning ratio remains well below the 42% achieved by non-GMO cultivars.
2009年，布国开始商业化种植转基因Bt棉花（http://bit.ly/1SlLyOa）。但是随后几年，官方注意到纤维长度和轧棉率下降。孟山都雇员将其归罪于水照片压力和其它气候问题。但是，棉花质量的问题持续存在，到2013/14种植季，该国三分之二的棉花被评级为低质量中等纤维长度，只有三分之一还保持着原先中等到高纤维长度的评级。轧棉率则一直大大低于非转基因棉花具有的42%的轧棉率。
The authors of the new paper conclude that the decline in staple length “has undermined the reputation of Burkinabè cotton and cut into its value on the international market. When coupled with the decline in overall lint due to the lower ginning ratio, the inferior quality characteristics of the Bt cultivars have compromised the economic position of Burkinabè cotton companies.”
文章的作者总结道，纤维长度的降低“损害了布国棉花的声誉，使其在国际市场贬值。再加上由于低轧棉率导致的总棉绒量的降低，劣质的转基因棉花使布国棉花公司的经济利益受损严重”。
The experience of Burkina Faso makes clear that focus on yield is not the defining factor of a crop’s success. The yield in Burkina Faso was high – in the most recent growing season, it produced over 700,000 MT of cotton, while neighbouring Mali produced only 500,000 MT. Yet within a few months Mali’s entire product had been sold on the international market, while most of Burkina Faso’s languished awaiting export. One high-ranking official lamented, “What is the point in being the top producer if you can’t even sell your cotton?”
布国的经历说明，产量并不是作物成功与否的决定因素。布国的产量很高，在最近的播种季节，该国生产了70万公吨的棉花，而临国马里只收获了50万公吨。可几个月内马里的产品就在国际市场上销售一空，而布国大多数没落的棉花还在等待出口。一个高阶官员悲叹道，“如果棉花卖不掉，那么再高产又有什么用呢？”
Unexpected effects of the GM transformation
出乎预料的转基因影响
The story of the decline of Burkina Faso’s cotton points to a problem with the GM process in general – that of pleiotropic effects, which means that the inserted GM gene influences other seemingly unrelated genes.
布国棉花衰败的事实指出了转基因过程的一个普遍问题：多向性效应，即插入的基因会影响其它看起来本不相关的基因。
In theory, as the new briefing notes, inserting the Bt gene into the Burkinabè germplasm should have left the resulting GM crop identical to its parent in every way except for the inserted trait conferring insect resistance. But in reality, the process of inserting the Bt trait into the local variety appears to have interfered with some of its most important characteristics. Monsanto scientists “are at a loss to explain the precise mechanism that has created these problems”.
正如这个新简报指出的那样，理论上，向布基纳棉花种质中插入Bt基因，除了引入抗虫性状之外，最终获得的转基因作物应该与其父本完全等同。但事实上，将Bt性状引入本地品种的过程，似乎影响了其本身一些最重要的特性。孟山都的科学家却“不能精确解释导致这些问题的机理”。
Cotton companies lose patience with Monsanto
棉花公司对孟山都失去了耐性
Monsanto is still trying to reach a solution to the problem, including backcrossing its Bt varieties into a new local cultivar. Meanwhile Burkina Faso’s cotton companies have lost patience and have taken matters into their own hands. Dowd-Uribe and Schnurr explain in their briefing: “Frustrated with Monsanto’s inability to identify and correct these declines in quality, the companies set a timeline for abandoning Bt cotton and returning to conventional Burkinabè cultivars.”
孟山都还在试图解决这个问题，包括将其Bt品种与当地的新品种逆回交。但是布国的棉花公司已经失去了耐性，并开始采取主动措施。Dowd-Uribe和Schnurr在简报中解释说：“孟山都对找出质量下降的原因以便加以改正表现得很无能，棉花公司对此很是失望，因而设定了放弃Bt棉花的时间表，打算回归布国常规品种。”
The companies plan on reducing the amount of Bt cottonseed on the market from 53% in 2015/16 to 30% in the 2016/17 growing season, with the goal of a complete return to non-GM cotton in time for the 2017/18 season. They are also demanding USD 280 million from Monsanto in compensation for losses incurred due to declines in quality since 2010.
这些公司计划将Bt棉花图片的市场占有率从2015/16种植季的53%降低到2016/17种植季的30%，并最终在2017/18种植季全面回归非转基因棉花。它们还向孟山都提出2亿8千万美元的赔偿要求，以弥补2010年以来棉花质量下降造成的损失。
Will Africa turn its back on GM?
非洲会对转基因说不么？
Dowd-Uribe and Schnurr conclude that Burkina Faso’s phase-out could stall or even end negotiations to adopt GM cotton in other African countries with similar concerns over cotton quality.
Down-Uribe和Schnurr总结说布国逐步淘汰转基因棉花，可能暂缓甚至终结其它非洲国家采用转基因棉花的谈判，它们对棉花质量有类似的顾虑。
They go further, adding that the reversal on GM cotton could undermine public trust in GM crops in general across the continent, at a time when many African countries are grappling with the choice of whether to adopt the technology.
作者进一步说，摈弃转基因棉花而回归常规，将会削弱整个非洲大陆对转基因作物的公众信任，而目前正是很多非洲国家将要作出是否采纳转基因技术的决策的关键时刻。
Notes
注释
1. Dowd-Uribe B and Schnurr MA (2016). Briefing: Burkina Faso’s reversal on genetically modified cotton and the implications for Africa. African Affairs 1–12. First published online: January 4, 2016. http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/01/04/afraf.adv063.extract
简报：布基纳法索推翻转基因棉花及由此给非洲带来的启示。《非洲事务》1-12。首次在线发表时间：2016年1月4日。链接：http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/01/04/afraf.adv063.extract
Photo: Burkina Faso: cotton harvest in Dourtenga, 2008, a year before GM Bt cotton was introduced
图片： 布基纳法索：2008年，即引入转基因Bt棉花之前的一年，Dourtenga地区的棉花收获
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