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1.’Spillover’ problems rather than ‘spillover’ benefits
2.Widespread adoption of Bt cotton and insecticide decrease promotes biocontrol services

NOTE: A
piece of research that’s just been published in the journal Nature
(item 2) is being heavily promoted as showing that Bt cotton helps
pest-killing insects flourish in Chinese fields, and that this benefit
may even spillover beyond the farms growing Bt cotton to other farms in
the area. But this new study focuses specifically on aphids as pests,
whereas other studies have shown that Bt cotton helps other pests to
flourish in Chinese fields, turning minor pests into a major problem and
triggering more pesticide use to combat them (item 1). These secondary
pests have also infested crops other than cotton.

EXTRACT: Millions
of hectares of farmland in northern China have been struck by
infestations of bugs following the widespread adoption of Bt cotton.
Outbreaks of mirid bugs, which can devastate around 200 varieties of
fruit, vegetable and corn crops, have risen dramatically in the past
decade, as cotton farmers have shifted from traditional cotton crops to
GM varieties. (item 1)
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1.’Spillover’ problems rather than ‘spillover’ benefits
Emma Hockridge, head of policy at the Soil Association

Encouraging
predator insects is crucial to managing crop pests sustainably –
indeed, that’s how organic farmers avoid pesticides, using natural
processes to encourage beneficial predators.

This study finds
that Bt cotton is a better habitat for such predators than cotton that
has been sprayed with pesticides. What it doesn’t cover is other recent
research in China that has discovered increased insect resistance and
increased numbers of pests developing in and around these GM cotton
crops.

Studies show problems occurring with secondary pests in
Bt cotton, which are not only affecting the cotton but also damaging
surrounding crops. This suggests ‘spillover’ problems rather than
‘spillover’ benefits. Taking an organic approach to encouraging
predators avoids this problem.

This new research states that
“critical concerns about the ecological risk assessment of transgenic
crops still remain, especially at the large scale.” A number of studies
which have been carried out on Bt cotton in China have shown significant
problems in terms of pest resistance and increased use of pesticides:

*According
to a study published in the journal Environmental Management and Change
in 2011, a substantial number of farmers in three-cotton producing
regions in China have reported that secondary pests have increased since
they adopted the use of Bt cotton which is genetically engineered to
resist pests such as the bollworm. This is consistent with the
scientific literature, which suggests that secondary pests are likely to
increase over time. The study also found that the reduction of
pesticides use has been lower than reported elsewhere, suggesting that
more pesticides are needed to combat emerging secondary pests. Thus, the
benefit of growing Bt cotton to reduce pesticides use diminishes in the
longer term. [1]