Cotton is the third largest genetically modified crop by its importance, after soybean and corn, and provides 40% of the global fiber requirements. Cotton is grown on about 35 million hectares worldwide, 10 million hectares (28%) of which are grown with GM varieties. Cotton is largely grown in marginal agricultural areas where precipitations are low and drought resistance is often the first limiting factor for yield. Drought resistance is one of the key factors which can help dry areas stay competitive in the global cotton market.
EVO133 is Evogene's lead candidate gene for yield, and yield stability under drought, heat and salinity conditions. EVO133 has been tested in three seasons of field trials in processing tomato varieties and has demonstrated its potential to increase yield under normal conditions, reduce yield penalty under drought conditions as well as under salinity and heat stresses. The validation of EVO133 is also advancing in other target crops under other collaborations, which have been announced publicly, namely in Corn with Biogemma and Soybean with Mertec.
Ofer Haviv, Evogene President and CEO, stated: "Having identified our lead candidate for yield and yield stability, we are excited to advance towards obtaining promising results in the cotton crop. CIRAD's decades of experience in developing cotton varieties around the globe, makes it a very attractive partner for this project."
Bernard Hau, Head of the CIRAD Cotton Research Unit, stated: "The search for rustic varieties resisting to drought corresponds to the demand of the developing countries and its importance will increase with climate change. CIRAD is pleased to have established a partnership with the Israeli company EVOGENE, a partner offering new tools to efficiently address this theme. Part of this project is financed by the EUREKA initiative through the French National Agency for Research (ANR)."
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