Top-down force is referred to arthropod pest management delivered by the organisms from higher trophic levels. In the context of prevalent adoption of transgenic Bt crops that produce insecticidal Cry proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), it still remains elusive whether the top-down forces are affected by the insect-resistant traits that introduced into the Bt crops. We explored h...

1) Moth Trapping. Despite the use of Bt-transgenic cotton on over 98% of the acreage in Tennessee, bollworm and tobacco budworm still compose an important pest complex. Bollworms may cause significant economic damage to Bt cotton fields, and the bollworm/budworm can be even more damaging to non-Bt cotton. More importantly, the threat of tobacco budworm infestations results in high adoption of B...

Regional suppression of pests by transgenic crops producing insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been reported in several cropping systems, but little is known about the functional relationship between the ultimate pest population density and the pervasiveness of Bt crops. Here we address this issue by analyzing 16 years of field data on pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypi...

Genetically modified (GM) cotton plants that effectively control cotton boll weevil (CBW), which is the most destructive cotton insect pest in South America, are reported here for the first time. This work presents the successful development of a new GM cotton with high resistance to CBW conferred by Cry10Aa toxin, a protein encoded by entomopathogenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene. The plan...

The host acceptance of neonate Alabama argillacea (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae to Bt cotton plants exerts a strong influence on the potential risk that this pest will develop resistance to Bt cotton. This will also determine the efficiency of management strategies to prevent its resistance such as the "refuge-in-the-bag" strategy. In this study, we assessed the acceptance of neonate...

Introduction Pakistan is the 4th top producer of cotton in the world (Table 1), yet in terms of yield it is at the distant 10th position. There are many possible reasons for low cotton yields in Pakistan—high prices of agricultural inputs (pesticides, fertilizers, etc.), higher intensity of insect and pest attacks, deficiency of water for irrigation, lack of advanced technologies and awareness,...

The effectiveness of selected cultural practices in managing the Columbia lance nematode, Hoplolaimus columbus, on cotton was evaluated in experiments in growers' infested fields. The effects of planting date, cotton cultivar, treatment with the growth regulator mepiquat chloride, and destruction of cotton-root systems after harvest on cotton-lint yield and population densities of H. columbus w...