http://www.bharattextile.com/newsitems/1983925

Southern Cotton Becoming Bt Resistant

Source: Deccan Herald, June 23, 2003

INDIA: Even as the genetically-modified Bt cotton is struggling to get a
foothold in India, Karnataka scientists have shown that in the long run
Bt cotton will fail to resist the pest...


Even as the genetically-modified Bt cotton is struggling to get a
foothold in India, Karnataka scientists have shown that in the long run
Bt cotton will fail to resist the pest bollworm unless careful
management measures are taken. 

The warning comes in the wake of the government's acknowledgement that
at least in Gujarat farmers are creating and planting illegal hybrids of
Bt cotton in their backyard without any precautions.

On account of genetic manipulation, Bt cotton produces its own pesticide
- a chemical known as Bt toxin inside the plant - thereby helping
farmers save on chemical sprays. After much debate and protests, the
Centre permitted Mumbai-based Mahyco to sell its Bt cotton in 2002 in a
few states.

However, farmers are advised to take resistance-control measures, as it
is feared that without such measures the pest will be resistant to Bt
toxin and ultimately give rise to a Bt toxin-resistant super-pest.

The fear seems to be a real one, according to scientists from University
of Agriculture Sciences in Dharwad and Raichur, who found that many
cotton plants from Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have
become resistant to Bt toxin. [presumably, the plants are showing low
resistance to the bollworm, ie the bollworm have some level of Bt resistance]

Development of resistance implies that transgenic Bt plants will be
ineffective to control bollworm, which apart from cotton also affects
pigeonpea, tomato, chickpea, maize, sunflower and various vegetables,
amounting to huge losses.

The resistance is the maximum in Nagpur and Nanded in Maharashtra;
Guntur, Nalgonda and Madhira in Andhra Pradesh and Raichur in Karnataka,
the team reported in the journal Current Science.

In Mysore, Coimbatore, Dharwad, Madurai and Kovilapatti the cotton
plants too are showing signature of low resistance.

"If proper resistance management strategies are not implemented, the
efficacy of pest management through Bt transgenic crops will be
seriously diminished due to wide spread development of resistance,"
cautioned the team leader Dr B Fakrudin from UAS, Dharwad.