Testing the efficacy of Bt brinjal

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), BARI, and the Bangladesh Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), with support from USAID, have now completed an independent impact evaluation, Impacts of Bt Brinjal (Eggplant) Technology in Bangladesh, to determine the impacts of Bt brinjal on pest infestation, pesticide use, crop yields, costs, revenues, and self-reported health outcomes.

The study shows exciting results of how Bt brinjal can lead to real improvements in the lives of farmers.

Bt brinjal leads to a:

• 95 percent reduction in FSB infestation
• 56 percent reduction in the environmental toxicity of pesticides used
• 10 percent reduction in self-reported symptoms associated with pesticide exposure among individuals in households growing Bt brinjal
• 42 percent increase in yields
• $400 increase in profits per hectare

Scaled up, these results imply that the cultivation of Bt brinjal could prevent the application of over 230,000 liters of pesticide nationwide.

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