Bt cotton: In India -Prospects and problems Top R

Bt Cotton in India -Prospects and problems Top R.Ravikesavan 1 and K.Iyanar 2 1Associate Professor, 2Assistant professor Department of Cotton , Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 641003 Introduction Cotton the “White Gold” is an important cash crop of India which plays a vital role in the Indian economy. As an industrial crop, it supports millions of people through cultivation, processing and trade and contributes Rs.360 billion to the export income. The area occupied by ... Bt cotton is genetically modified to resist bollworm pests by producing insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis. This trait significantly reduces the need for chemical pesticides, leading to lower production costs, increased yield, and less environmental impact. Bt cotton has been widely adopted in many countries, including the USA and India. Bt cotton is a genetically modified cotton variety that produces an insecticidal crystal protein called Cry protein derived from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. The Cry protein is toxic only to certain insect pests like cotton bollworm and pink bollworm when they ingest it, causing them to stop feeding within a few days. Bt cotton was first commercialized in India in 2002 and its adoption has significantly increased cotton yields while decreasing insecticide use and costs for ... Bt Cotton (W129) – Some content in the linked publication is dated What is Bt Cotton ? Bt cotton has been genetically modified by the insertion of one or more genes from a common soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis. These genes encode for the production of insecticidal proteins, and thus, genetically transformed plants produce one or more toxins as they grow. The genes that have been inserted into cotton produce toxins that are limited in activity almost exclusively to caterpillar pests ...