China-GM Cotton Fuels Insect Infestation of Adjacent Fieldsp

Oops - those darn unintended consequences again! 10 year study in China shows GM cotton crops require less pesticides but that fuels growth of pesticides in adjacent fields - especially among smaller farms.

clipped from www.guardian.co.uk Scientists call for GM review after surge in pests around cotton farms in China Scientists are calling for the long-term risks of GM crops to be reassessed after field studies revealed an explosion in pest numbers around farms growing modified strains of cotton. Millions of hectares of farmland in northern China have been struck by infestations of bugs following the widespread adoption of Bt cotton, an engineered variety made by the US biotech giant, Monsanto. The infestations are potentially catastrophic for more than 10m small-scale farmers who cultivate 26m hectares of vulnerable crops in the region studied. The findings mark the first confirmed report of mass infestations arising as an unintended consequence of farmers using less pesticide – a feature of Bt cotton that was supposed to save money and lessen the crops' environmental impact. The research, led by Kongming Wu at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, is published in the US journal, Science.