SUPRESSION OF COTTON BOLLWORM

Science 19 September 2008:Vol. 321. no. 5896, pp. 1676 - 1678DOI: 10.1126/science.1160550
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Reports
Suppression of Cotton Bollworm in Multiple Crops in China in Areas with Bt Toxin–Containing CottonKong-Ming Wu,1 Yan-Hui Lu,1 Hong-Qiang Feng,1 Yu-Ying Jiang,2 Jian-Zhou Zhao1*
Transgenic cotton that has been engineered to produce insecticidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and so to resist the pest cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) has been widely planted in Asia. Analysis of the population dynamics of H. armigera from 1992 to 2007 in China indicated that a marked decrease in regional outbreaks of this pest in multiple crops was associated with the planting of Bt cotton. The study area included six provinces in northern China with an annual total of 3 million hectares of cotton and 22 million hectares of other crops (corn, peanuts, soybeans, and vegetables) grown by more than 10 million resource-poor farmers. Our data suggest that Bt cotton not only controls H. armigera on transgenic cotton designed to resist this pest but also may reduce its presence on other host crops and may decrease the need for insecticide sprays in general.
1 State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China.2 National Agro-Technical Extension and Service Center, Beijing, 100026, People's Republic of China.
* Present address: Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Johnston, IA 50131, USA