Bt cotton is spreading very rapidly in China, in response to demand from farmers for technology that will reduce both the cost of pesticide applications and exposure to pesticides, and will free up time for other tasks. Based on surveys of hundreds of farmers in the Yellow River cotton-growing region in northern China in 1999, 2000 and 2001, over 4 million smallholders have been able to increas...

This study focused on determining the phytotoxic mechanism of CeO2 nanoparticles (NPs): destroying chloroplasts and vascular bundles and altering absorption of nutrients on conventional and Bt-transgenic cottons. Experiments were designed with three concentrations of CeO2 NPs including: 0, 100 and 500 mg·L(-1), and each treatment was three replications. Results indicate that absorbed CeO2 nanop...

The first-generation transgenic cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), Bollgard, which contains a single toxin protein gene cry1Ac from Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki Berliner, was approved by the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) for commercial growing in Pakistan in 2011 and the yield enhancement is promising, with an increase in cotton bales up to 150 millionthe record productivity of the co...

Investigations on the population dynamics of aphid Aphis gossypii Glover Bt (G.Cot.Hy.8 BG II) and non-Bt (G.Cot.Hy.8) were carried out at Main Cotton Research Station, Navsari Agricultural University, Surat, Gujarat during Kharif, 2020-21. The incidence aphids initiated in first week July (27th SW) cotton hybrid second (28th continued till crop harvest January (2nd both hybrids. peak activity ...

The cotton aphid Aphis gossypii Glover is the main aphid pest in cotton fields in the Yangtze River Valley Cotton-planting Zone (YRZ) in central China. Various natural enemies may attack the cotton aphid in Bt cotton fields but no studies have identified potential specific top-down forces that could help manage this pest in the YRZ in China. In order to identify possibilities for managing the c...

Planting Bt cotton in China since 1997 has led to important changes in the natural enemy communities occurring in cotton, however their specific effect on suppressing the cotton aphids (being notorious in conventional cotton ecosystem) has not been fully documented yet. We observed strong evidence for top-down control of the aphid population, e.g. the control efficiency of natural enemies on co...

India is one of the largest cotton-growing countries. Cotton is a fiber crop with varied applications from making tiny threads to fashionable clothing in the textile sector. In the near future, cotton crop will gain popularity as a multipurpose crop in India. The commercialization of Bt cotton in 2002 and consequently the fast adoption of Bt cotton hybrids by cotton farmers have enhanced the co...

Extensive cultivation of crops genetically engineered to produce insecticidal proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has suppressed some major pests, reduced insecticide sprays, enhanced pest control by natural enemies, and increased grower profits. However, these benefits are being eroded by evolution of resistance in pests. We report a strategy for combating resistance by cro...

Introduction Farmers are not all the same. Some are more willing to take risks and adopt new technology than others, while some are simply better farmers than others. This has been the case since the birth of agriculture, but debates surrounding ‘inequality’ have, if anything, become more intense in the past 10 years with the increasing popularity of genetically modified (GM) crops. Proponents ...