Bt cotton grown in India is an example of a:

Bt cotton is a genetically modified (transgenic) variety of cotton that has been given a gene from a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). This gene enables the plant to produce its own insecticidal protein, which kills certain pests.

How Bt cotton works:

• The Bt gene (such as cry1Ac) produces a crystal (Cry) protein in the plant tissues.
• When bollworm caterpillars eat the plant, the protein is activated in their alkaline gut and damages it, killing them.
• The protein is harmless to humans, mammals and most other insects, because they lack the specific receptors in their gut.

Bt cotton in India:

• It was approved for commercial cultivation in India in 2002 by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• The first Bt cotton hybrids were introduced by Mahyco in partnership with Monsanto.
• It is the only GM crop approved for commercial cultivation in India so far.
• Today, Bt cotton covers over 90 per cent of India's cotton area.

Benefits:

• It sharply reduced damage by the American bollworm and the need for insecticide sprays in the early years.
• Cotton production and yields increased significantly, and India became one of the world's largest producers and exporters of cotton.

Problems:

• The pink bollworm developed resistance to Bt cotton over time, causing heavy damage in some regions.
• Farmers depend on costly seeds that must be bought every season.
• Secondary pests such as whiteflies and mealybugs, not controlled by Bt, have increased.

Other GM crops in India:

• Bt brinjal was approved by the GEAC in 2009, but its release was put on hold in 2010.
• GM mustard (DMH-11), developed by Delhi University, received approval for environmental release in 2022, but its commercial use is the subject of a case in the Supreme Court.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Organic crops are grown without synthetic fertilisers, pesticides or GM seeds.
• ✗Dwarf high-yielding varieties were developed by conventional plant breeding, not genetic modification.
• ✗Traditional desi varieties are local, non-GM cotton types.