• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Saturday, October 4, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Long-term analysis shows GM cotton no match for insects in India

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
March 13, 2020
in Biology
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Study: Changes in insecticides, fertilization drove productivity gains — not Bt cotton adoption

IMAGE

Credit: Glenn Davis Stone/Washington University


Genetically modified (GM) Bt cotton produces its own insecticide. The seeds were introduced in India in 2002 and today account for 90% of all cotton planting in the country. Bt cotton is now the most widely planted GM crop on small farms in the developing world.

In India, Bt cotton is the most widely planted cotton crop by acreage, and it is hugely controversial. Supporters long touted increased yields and reduced pesticides to justify its pickup. But that argument does not hold up under the first long-term study of Bt cotton impacts in India. The analysis is co-authored by a Washington University in St. Louis anthropologist in the journal Nature Plants.

Bt cotton is explicitly credited with tripling cotton production during 2002-2014. But the largest production gains came prior to widespread seed adoption and must be viewed in line with changes in fertilization practices and other pest population dynamics, according to Glenn Davis Stone, professor of sociocultural anthropology and environmental studies, both in Arts & Sciences.

“Since Bt cotton first appeared in India there has been a stream of contradictory reports that it has been an unmitigated disaster — or a triumph,” Stone said, noting the characteristic deep divide in conversation about GM crops. “But the dynamic environment in Indian cotton fields turns out to be completely incompatible with these sorts of simplistic claims.”

Many economists and other observers based their assessments on much shorter time frames than Stone’s new study, which spans 20 years.

“There are two particularly devastating caterpillar pests for cotton in India, and, from the beginning, Bt cotton did control one of them: the (misnamed) American bollworm,” Stone continued. “It initially controlled the other one, too — the pink bollworm — but that pest quickly developed resistance and now it is a worse problem than ever.

“Bt plants were highly vulnerable to other insect pests that proliferated as more and more farmers adopted the crop. Farmers are now spending much more on insecticides than before they had ever heard of Bt cotton. And the situation is worsening.”

Stone, an internationally recognized expert on the human side of global agricultural trends, has published extensively on GM crops in the developing world. His previous work has been funded by the Templeton Foundation and the National Science Foundation.

To prepare this new analysis, Stone partnered with entomologist K.R. Kranthi, the former director of India’s Central Institute for Cotton Research. Kranthi is now the head of a technical division at the Washington-based International Cotton Advisory Committee.

“Yields in all crops jumped in 2003, but the increase was especially large in cotton,” Stone said. “But Bt cotton had virtually no effect on the rise in cotton yields because it accounted for less than 5% of India’s cotton crop at the time.”

Instead, huge increases in insecticides and fertilizers may have been the most significant changes.

“Now farmers in India are spending more on seeds, more on fertilizer and more on insecticides,” Stone said. “Our conclusion is that Bt cotton’s primary impact on agriculture will be its role in making farming more capital-intensive — rather than any enduring agronomic benefits.”

###

Media Contact
Talia Ogliore
[email protected]
314-935-2919

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41477-020-0615-5

Tags: Agricultural Production/EconomicsAgricultureBiologyBusiness/EconomicsDeveloping CountriesEcology/EnvironmentEntomologyFertilizers/Pest ManagementPlant SciencesSocioeconomics
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

“Rice Cultivar Transcriptome Reveals Heat Stress Response Genes”

“Rice Cultivar Transcriptome Reveals Heat Stress Response Genes”

October 4, 2025
blank

Revolutionary Graph Network Enhances Protein Interaction Prediction

October 4, 2025

DOG Gene Family in Wheat Drives Seed Dormancy

October 4, 2025

Discovery of MrSTP20: Sugar Transporter in Salt Stress

October 4, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    94 shares
    Share 38 Tweet 24
  • New Study Indicates Children’s Risk of Long COVID Could Double Following a Second Infection – The Lancet Infectious Diseases

    91 shares
    Share 36 Tweet 23
  • Physicists Develop Visible Time Crystal for the First Time

    75 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • New Insights Suggest ALS May Be an Autoimmune Disease

    70 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

New Study Reveals Metabolically Active Visceral Fat Drives Aggressiveness in Endometrial Cancer

Selective Arylating Uncommon C–F Bonds in Polyfluoroarenes

HIRAID Framework Enhances Nurse and Patient Outcomes

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 62 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.