{"id":6022,"date":"2026-01-04T01:03:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T19:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/?p=6022"},"modified":"2026-01-05T11:44:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T06:14:40","slug":"bt-cotton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/bt-cotton\/","title":{"rendered":"BT Cotton"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bt cotton is a\u00a0<strong>genetically modified (GM) cotton crop<\/strong>\u00a0that expresses an insecticidal protein whose gene was derived from the\u00a0<strong>soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis,<\/strong>\u00a0also known as Bt.<\/p>\r\n<p>Many B. thuringiensis subspecies are found in soils and are generally known to be toxic to various insect genera but not to other living organisms. Bt. has been used as an insecticide to control stored grain pests in many other countries, including India, as sprays in cotton\u00a0<strong>Integrated Pest Management (IPM)<\/strong>\u00a0programs to control insects.\u00a0<strong>Bt cotton\u00a0<\/strong>was the\u00a0<strong>first GM crop<\/strong>approved in India in March\u00a0<strong>2002\u00a0<\/strong>for commercial cultivation.<\/p>\r\n<h2>Development of Bt Cotton<\/h2>\r\n<p>Bacillus thuringiensis was discovered in\u00a0<strong>1901\u00a0<\/strong>by a Japanese biologist, Shigetane Ishiwatari.<\/p>\r\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiram-prod.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/development_of_bt_cotton_83836dad16.png\" alt=\"development-of-bt-cotton\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p>Bt cotton has been genetically modified (GM) by inserting one or more\u00a0<strong>genes\u00a0<\/strong>from Bacillus thuringiensis, (a\u00a0<strong>common soil bacterium)\u00a0<\/strong>making them\u00a0<strong>transgenic plants.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>The insertion of B. thuringiensis genes causes cotton plant cells to produce crystal insecticidal proteins known as\u00a0<strong>Cryproteins.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t<li>These insecticidal proteins are effective in killing some of the most damaging cotton\u00a0<strong>caterpillar pests<\/strong>, such as\u00a0<strong>tobacco budworm and bollworm larvae.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Bollgard I:<\/strong>\u00a0In 1996, Bollgard cotton (a trademark of Monsanto) was the first Bt cotton to be marketed in the United States. The original Bollgard cotton produces a toxin called\u00a0<strong>Cry 1Ac,<\/strong>\u00a0which has excellent activity against tobacco budworms and pink bollworm.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Bollgard II:<\/strong>\u00a0It was introduced in 2003, representing the next generation of Bt cotton. It contains a second gene from the Bt bacteria which encodes the production of<strong>\u00a0Cry 2Ab.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Features of Bt Cotton<\/h2>\r\n<p>Some features of Bt cotton include:<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><strong>Reduce Pesticide Use:\u00a0<\/strong>Reduced pesticide use leads to:\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>reduced the risk of poisoning people who apply pesticides or work in the fields and animals.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Lower costs since fewer pesticide applications may be needed.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Increased yield:<\/strong>\u00a0Bt cotton has increased yields through better pest control and has benefited adopting farmers in India and several other developing countries.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Improved Integrated Pest Management (IPM):\u00a0<\/strong>The introduction of Bt cotton has enabled cotton farms to implement improved\u00a0<strong>Integrated Pest Management (IPM)<\/strong>.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>To further reduce pesticide use, IPM strategies employ a combination of natural controls and\u00a0<strong>pest-specific chemistry.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Soil health:\u00a0<\/strong>Bt cotton showed no ill effects on\u00a0<strong>soil invertebrates<\/strong>. Based on their morphological features, oviposition, fecundity rate, etc., the soil invertebrates are not affected by growing Bt cotton. Studies conducted by\u00a0<strong>ICAR\u00a0<\/strong>also did notshow any adverse effects on soil, microflora, and animal health.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Environmental Protection:\u00a0<\/strong>Bt cotton cultivars exhibited excellent control of\u00a0<em>Helicoverpa zea<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>Heliothis virescens<\/em>\u00a0(insect pests) and reduced the impact of insecticides to create an\u00a0<strong>eco-friendly environment\u00a0<\/strong>without compromising yield.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Biosafety tests and assessment of toxicity to non-target organisms:\u00a0<\/strong>Biosafety tests indicated absolute safety to goats, cows, buffaloes, fish, and poultry.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>The results of feed-safety studies revealed that animals fed Bt-cotton seed meal performed similarly to control animals in various tests and showed\u00a0<strong>no adverse effects.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>India and Bt Cotton<\/h2>\r\n<p>Cotton, also known as\u00a0<strong>White Gold,<\/strong>\u00a0is an important\u00a0<strong>cash crop<\/strong>\u00a0in India and plays an important role in the Indian economy. It supports more than 60 million people through\u00a0<strong>agriculture<\/strong>, processing, and\u00a0<strong>textile\u00a0<\/strong>use. Cotton accounts for roughly<strong>\u00a0two-thirds<\/strong>\u00a0of total\u00a0<strong>textile fiber consumption<\/strong>\u00a0in India. The government is supporting the cotton farmers by procuring cotton under the<strong>\u00a0Minimum Support Price (MSP).<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>The major efforts to harness\u00a0<strong>genetic engineering technology<\/strong>\u00a0for bollworm resistance in cotton began in the 1990s in India with the import of\u00a0<strong>GM cotton\u00a0<\/strong>and the initiation of research programmes in national laboratories.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Institutions:\u00a0<\/strong>Bt cotton is the only GM crop approved for commercial cultivation in the country by the\u00a0<strong>Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)<\/strong>\u00a0in 2002.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>In India, the regulation of genetically modified organisms involves the collaboration of two crucial ministries: the Department of Biotechnology, which operates under the purview of the\u00a0<strong>Ministry of Science and Technology<\/strong>, and the\u00a0<strong>Ministry of Environment and Forest<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Production of Bt Cotton:\u00a0<\/strong>As the share of Bt hybrids in the country\u2019s area sown under\u00a0<strong>cotton touched 95%,<\/strong>\u00a0average per-hectare\u00a0<strong>lint yields<\/strong>\u00a0more than doubled from 278 kg in 2000-01 to 566 kg in 2013-14.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>But both production and yields started falling after 2013-14, to 343.5 lakh bales and 447 kg\/hectare in 2022-23. This is due to pink bollworm larvae developing resistance to Bt proteins over time by continuously feeding on\u00a0<strong>Bt hybrids.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiram-prod.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/bt_cotton_production_in_india_55ca14bb36.png\" alt=\"bt-cotton-production-in-india\" \/><\/p>\r\n<h3>Benefits of Bt Cotton in India<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><strong>Employment:<\/strong>\u00a0The use of Bt cotton in India has resulted in massive increases in women's employment.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Increase in farmer's income:\u00a0<\/strong>The introduction of Bt cotton has brought impressive increases in the incomes of farmers as well as profits to\u00a0<strong>biotechnology\u00a0<\/strong>companies and seed companies.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>The impact of Bt cotton on Indian agriculture can be seen through the replacement of large tracts of varietal areas of north, west, and south India with Bt hybrids.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>These hybrids are instrumental in reducing the overall quantity of insecticides, apart from showing spectacular yield levels for cotton crops.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Limitation of Bt Cotton in India<\/h3>\r\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiram-prod.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/pink_bollworm_d55251361b.png\" alt=\"pink-bollworm\" \/><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><strong>Non-resistant to other pests:\u00a0<\/strong>Bt cotton was developed for\u00a0<strong>cold-climate countries<\/strong>\u00a0such as the\u00a0<strong>United States,\u00a0<\/strong>where pests are limited, most notably the bollworm, against which the Bt toxin works, and pest loads in fields are low.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Apart from the\u00a0<strong>bollworm<\/strong>, India has a plethora of cotton pests. Hence, pesticides will have to be used again because spraying is required to kill these other pests.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Incompatibility with agricultural and climatic conditions:<\/strong>\u00a0According to some experts, Bt cotton is unlikely to last more than a few years in India because it is fundamentally incompatible with the country's agricultural and climatic conditions.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Insects are likely to develop resistance quickly, leaving the variety ineffective in a matter of years.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Herbicide-Tolerant (HT) Bt cotton<\/h2>\r\n<p>The HTBt cotton variant adds another layer of modification to Bt cotton, making the plant resistant to the<strong>\u00a0herbicide glyphosate<\/strong>\u00a0by introducing another<strong>\u00a0gene Cp4-Epsps\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0from another soil bacterium,\u00a0<strong>Agrobacterium tumefaciens,<\/strong>\u00a0but it has not been approved by regulators in India.<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><strong>Bacillus Thuringiensis<\/strong>\u00a0is resistant to the attack of\u00a0<strong>pink bollworms<\/strong>\u00a0but is unable to stand the application of glyphosate.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Concerns:\u00a0<\/strong>There is a big increase in such illegal cultivation in India. According to the\u00a0<strong>Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSSI),<\/strong>\u00a0the HTBt cotton area will be around\u00a0<strong>15% of the total cotton area in India.<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Concerns include\u00a0<strong>glyphosate being carcinogenic<\/strong>\u00a0as well as the unchecked spread of herbicide resistance to nearby plants via pollination, resulting in a\u00a0<strong>slew of superweeds.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t<li>Illegal cotton seed sales using prominent company brands pose risks to farmers due to\u00a0<strong>lack of seed quality,<\/strong>\u00a0which also leads to\u00a0<strong>environmental pollution.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t<li>The\u00a0<strong>industry loses legitimate seed sales<\/strong>, while the government also\u00a0<strong>loses revenue<\/strong>\u00a0in terms of tax collection.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bt cotton is a genetically modified organism that contains genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Learn all details about BT Cotton including its uses, advantages, etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239],"tags":[770,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-6022","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-quest-level-4","8":"tag-bt-cotton","9":"tag-quest"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6022"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19877,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6022\/revisions\/19877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}