Impacts of transgenic Bt cotton and integrated pest management education on smallholder cotton farmers

Comparative field research on transgenic Bt cotton and conventional cotton under different conditions (fields without pesticide inputs, fields managed by farmers with IPM education, fields managed by farmers lacking IPM education) were carried out in Hubei province of China in 2002. The amount of pesticide used on Bt cotton by non-IPM farmers was found to be around three times that used by IPM farmers. IPM farmers made significantly higher net profits from cultivating transgenic Bt cotton in comparison with non-IPM farmers. Other pest management practices had more significant influences on the population dynamics of predatory natural enemies and major insect pests than did the adoption of transgenic Bt cotton in the cotton ecosystem. Our study showed that IPM education, by increasing farmer capacity to critically evaluate inputs and their effects, monitor their fields and make informed decisions on pest management, enabled farmers to reduce pesticide use significantly, so resulting in improved production and profit margin. IPM farmer education thus, contributed to maximising the value of planting transgenic Bt cotton.