Plant smart to avoid Bt-resistant corn borer

摘要

MAIZE producers can learn a lesson from cotton producers: planting crops genetically engineered to be insect-resistant works in the short term, but also can increase the number of insects resistant to pesticides in the future. The warning comes from experts at Purdue University in Indiana in the United States. Australian cotton growers, who now have access to genetically modified cotton with built-in resistance to the heliothis caterpillar, are well aware of the need to use the new cotton as part ofan integrated approach to pest management to avoid the potential for insect resistance to develop. The threat of resistance build-up must be taken seriously.