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Re: [SANET-MG] Bt cotton does not imporve yield



Hi Steve,
The point is "However, nontransgenic, Bt and BtHr cotton had similar yields overall" it seems to me that says Bt cotton does not improve yield over conventional cultivation, as you are aware there were no organic cotton crops in the comparison. The original paper is open and available to all. It would take supernatural word engineering to convert the study into public relations for Monsanto.However, that will certainly not dissuade the Monsanto zealots from trying. sincerely,joe
Steve Ford wrote:
Joe,
I've tried several times, but in reading the abstract below I can't come
to the same conclusion you did in the subject line.  Perhaps you could
explain your thoughts on this.  Thanks.
Steve Ford

-----Original Message-----
From: Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group
[mailto:SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU] On Behalf Of jcummins
Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2006 11:43 AM
To: SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU
Subject: [SANET-MG] Bt cotton does not imporve yield


In the article below Bt is  Cry1Ac  for pink boll worm control  and BtHr

is Bt roundup ready cotton.
Published online before print May 4, 2006
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073/pnas.0508312103

Agricultural Sciences
Farm-scale evaluation of the impacts of transgenic cotton on biodiversity, pesticide use, and yield
( agricultural sustainability | environmental impact | transgenic crops
)

Manda G. Cattaneo *, Christine Yafuso *, Chris Schmidt *, Cho-ying Huang

, Magfurar Rahman , Carl Olson *, Christa Ellers-Kirk *, Barron J. Orr ,

Stuart E. Marsh , Larry Antilla , Pierre Dutilleul ¶, and Yves Carrière
*||

Higher yields and reduced pesticide impacts are needed to mitigate the effects of agricultural intensification. A 2-year farm-scale evaluation of 81 commercial fields in Arizona show that use of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton reduced insecticide use, whereas transgenic cotton with Bt protein and herbicide resistance (BtHr) did not affect herbicide use. Transgenic cotton had higher yield than nontransgenic cotton for any given number of insecticide applications. However, nontransgenic, Bt and BtHr cotton had similar yields overall, largely because higher insecticide use with nontransgenic cotton improved control of key pests. Unlike Bt and BtHr cotton, insecticides reduced the diversity of nontarget insects. Several other agronomic and ecological factors also affected biodiversity. Nevertheless, pairwise comparisons of diversity of nontarget insects in cotton fields with diversity in adjacent noncultivated sites revealed similar effects of cultivation of transgenic and nontransgenic cotton on biodiversity. The results indicate that impacts of agricultural intensification can be reduced when replacement of broad-spectrum insecticides by narrow-spectrum Bt crops does not reduce control of pests not affected by Bt crops.

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