Bt cotton

The refuge may not be treated independently of the Bt cotton field.

Bt cotton has had some success in China.

The company has more than doubled its sales of Bt cotton here in the last year, but the expansion has been contentious.

Genetically engineered Bt cotton is not protected from the boll weevil.

Bt cotton crops do not require insecticide applications.

Monsanto did this with Bt cotton in India, where the product was rapidly adopted.

A new kind of cotton known as BT cotton is cultivated on a large scale.

The refuge cotton must be embedded as a contiguous block within the Bt cotton field.

The spate of farmer suicides in 2011-12 has been particularly severe among Bt cotton farmers."

The report concluded that while Bt cotton may have been a factor in specific suicides, the contribution was likely marginal compared to socio-economic factors.

For example, by growing Bt cotton, farmers could reduce spraying for bollworm and budworm from seven times a season to none.

For areas affected by pink bollworm only, the refuge cotton may be planted as single rows within the Bt cotton field.

Bt cotton crops yield 5% more cotton on average compared to traditional cotton crops.

In China, the main problem has been with mirids, which have in some cases "completely eroded all benefits from Bt cotton cultivation".

As a result, production of genetically-modified Bt cotton, which could now be irrigated using tube wells, increased to become the largest in India.

A survey of small Indian farms between 2002 and 2008 concluded that Bt cotton adoption has led to higher yields and lower pesticide use.

Ensure that a refuge is maintained within 1 linear mile (preferably within mile) from the edge of the Bt cotton.

Consequently, in 2012 the state of Maharashtra banned Bt cotton and ordered a socio-economic study of its use by independent institutes.

In addition to Bt corn, the agency has approved Bt potatoes and Bt cotton.

The Brazilian model is based on straight cotton crops while Indian government's promotes the use of Bt cotton crops.

Under-Control Bugs For proponents of genetic engineering of crops, Bt cotton has been a success story.

Bollworm resistance to first generation Bt cotton was also identified in Australia, China, Spain and the United States.

For example, the cotton bollworm, a common cotton pest, feeds on Bt cotton it will ingest the toxin and die.

Development of Bt cotton (genetically modified to produce Bacillus thuringiensis toxin) improved yields of lint.

The company advised farmers to switch to its second generation of Bt cotton - Bolguard II - which had two resistance genes instead of one.