Emergence of minor pests becoming major pests in GE cotton in China: What are the reasons? What are the alternatives practices to this change of status?

Abstract

A recent study in China by Lu et al. 1 shows that populations of an occasional cotton pest, mirid bugs (Heteroptera: Miridae), increased following the introduction of genetically engineered (GE) cotton plants. The GE cotton produces a delta-endotoxin from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to control the cotton bollworm. Before the introduction of Bt cotton in China, mirid bugs were usually controlled by broad-spectrum pesticide sprays targeted against the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera H