BT COTTON (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Agriculture)

Context: The pink bollworm has taken a toll on the fiber crop (cotton), even as new “mating disruption” technologies to control the pest are showing promise.

Cotton

• About: It  is one of the most important commercial crops cultivated in India and accounts for around 25% of the total global cotton production.
• Species of Cultivated Cotton: Gossypium arboreum and Herbaceum (Asian cotton), G.barbadense (Egyptian cotton) and G. hirsutum (American Upland cotton).
• Major States: Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Pink bollworm

• It is one of the most destructive pests of cotton.
• Scientific name: Pectinophora gossypiella
• Distribution: Originally native to India, it is now recorded in nearly all the cotton-growing countries of the world.

BT Cotton

• About: is a genetically modified organism (GMO) or genetically modified pest resistant plant cotton variety, which produces an insecticide to combat bollworm.
• Commercially grown in India: Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton
• Approved for Cultivation by: The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC).
• It a joint venture between Monsanto and Mahyco.