bt-cotton is genetically engineered by inserting a gene from a
Bt cotton Strains of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis produce over 200 different Bt toxins, each harmful to different insects. Most notably, Bt toxins are insecticidal to the larvae of moths and butterflies, beetles, cotton bollworms and ghtu flies but are harmless to other forms of life.[1] The gene coding for Bt toxin has been inserted into cotton as a transgene, causing it to produce this natural insecticide in its tissues. In many regions, the main pests in commercial cotton are lepidopteran larvae, which are killed by the Bt protein in the genetically modified cotton they eat. This eliminates the need to use large amounts of broad-spectrum insecticides to kill lepidopteran pests (some of which have developed pyrethroid resistance). This spares natural insect predators in the farm ecology and further contributes to noninsecticide pest management.
Cotton production in the United States Cotton production is an important economic factor in the United States as the country leads, worldwide, in cotton exportation. The United States is ranked third in production, behind China and India.[1] Almost all of the cotton fiber growth and production occurs in southern and western states, dominated by Texas, California, Arizona, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. More than 99 percent of the cotton grown in the US is of the Upland variety, with the rest being American Pima.[2] Cotton production is a $25Â billion-per-year industry in the United States, employing over 200,000 people in total,[1] as against growth of forty billion pounds a year from 77 million acres of land covering more than eighty countries.[3] The final estimate of U.S. cotton production in 2012 was 17.31 million bales,[4] with the corresponding figures for China and India being 35 million and 26.5 million bales, respectively.[5]