Welcome

TO THE
AGRICOS
Bt Cotton: An Over View

Dr.V.C.Subba Rayudu
 2006-07 2007-08
State Area Prod Yield Area Prod Yield
Punjab      6.07 26.00 728 6.48 24.00 630
Haryana 5.30 16.00 513 4.78 16.00 569
Rajasthan 3.50 8.00 389 3.68 9.00 416
North Total 14.87 50.00 572 14.94 49.00 558
Gujarat 23.90 101.00 718 25.16 110.00 743
Maharashtra 30.70 52.00 288 31.91 60.00 320
Madhya Pradesh 6.39 18.00 479 6.62 21.00 539
Central Total 60.99 171.00 477 63.69 191.00 510
Andhra Pradesh 9.72 35.00 612 10.96 43.00 667
Karnataka 3.75 6.00 272 3.71 8.00 367
Tamil Nadu 1.22 5.00 697 1.23 5.00 691
South Total 14.69 46.00 532 15.90 56.00 599
Others 0.87 1.00 195 0.77 2.00 442
Total   268.00     298.00  
Loose Lint   12.00     12.00  

Grand Total 91.42 280.00 521 95.30 310.00 553       

as per CAB dated 11th

January 2008
Area, Production and productivity of cotton in India during this decade

Area in Production in
Year lakh lakh bales of Yield kgs per hectare
hectares 170 kgs

2000-01 85.76 140.00 278

2001-02 87.30 158.00 308

2002-03 76.67 136.00 302

2003-04  76.30 179.00 399

2004-05 87.86 243.00 470

2005-06  86.77 244.00 478

2006-07 91.42 280.00 521

2007-08 95.30 310.00 553

Source : Cotton Advisory Board

Staple-wise production of cotton
Quantity in lakh bales of 170 kgs
STAPLE
96-97  97-98    00-01  00-01  01-02  02-03  03-04  04-05  05-06 
GROUP 
SHORT
(below 16.25  10.00  11.50  9.50  9.50  9.50  9.00  7.60  7.11  7.00 
20.0 mm) 
MEDI UM
136.8
(20.5 to 25.5 .  .  .  .  .  82.50  72.00  75.90  65.00 
0 
mm) 
MEDI UM
LONG (26.0 to 87.54  72.50  77.00  81.50  74.00  42.00 
27.5 mm) 
61.00  51.00  89.95  94.07 
LONG
125.0
(28.0 to 68.45  71.00  71.50  60.00  52.00 
0 
33.5 mm) 
EXTRA LONG
(34 mm & 5.66  4.50  5.00  5.00  4.50  5.00  4.00  5.55  5.02  5.00 
above) 
177.9 158.0 165.0 156.0 140.0 158.0 136.0 179.0 243.0 244.0
TOTAL 
0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0 
Note : Staple-group-wise production figures are estimated
Staple-wise mill consumption of cotton (Non-SSI)
Cotton year -  October to September
2001- 2002- 2003- 2004-
2000-01
02 03 04 05

SHORT 11.3 8.2 6.13 7.27 9.71

(below
20.0
(7.51) (5.72) (4.21) (4.83) (6.50)
mm)

MEDI UM 53.79 45.04 42.19 47.83 46.05

(20.5 to
25.5
(35.76) (31.44) (28.99) (31.76) (30.83)
mm)

MEDI UM 29.62 27.64 25.77 25.82 24.44

LONG
(26.0 to
27.5 (19.69) (19.30) (17.71) (17.15) (16.37)
mm)

LONG 47.63 53.68 58.18 47.31 43.79

(28.0 to
33.5
(31.67) (37.48) (39.98) (31.43) (29.32)
mm)

EXTRA 7.24 6.07 5.78 4.28 3.86

LONG
(34 mm
(4.82) (4.24) (3.97) (2.84) (2.58)
& above)

149.58 140.63 138.05 132.51 127.85

TOTAL
I NDI AN
COTTON (99.45) (98.18) (94.86) (87.99) (85.60)

0.83 2.61 7.48 18.08 21.51

FOREI GN
COTTON
(0.55) (1.82) (5.14) (12.01) (14.40)

150.41 143.24 145.53 150.59 149.36

GRAND
TOTAL
(100%) (100%) (100%) (100%) (100%)

SSI Mills 7.50 6.54 6.24 8.37 10.97

Note : Figures in
bracket indicate Figures in lakh bales of
percentage to the total 170 kgs each
 COTTON Bollworms
Heliothes armigera
(American bollworm )
Earias fabia
(spotted bollworm)
Pectinofera gossipella
(pink bollworm)
Spodoptera marutia
(tobacco caterpillar)
 SUPPRESSED. Populations of pink
bollworm (above) shrink in regions with
abundant Bt cotton.
T. Dennehy
 NATURE OF DAMAGE
caused by Bollworms
 CATERPILLERS feed voraciously on the
foliage, buds, flowers & developing bolls.
 They insert head inside bolls and feed on
the succulant fruit,( the other part of the
body remaining out side the boll).
 A big hole can be seen on several bolls as a
symptom of the damage caused by
bollworms
 Adults do not cause damage.
Life cycle of Bollworms
 Eggs are spherical and yellowish colored.
 They are laid on flowers,bolls,squares and
rarely on leaves and tender shoots.
 Pupation generally takes place in soil.
Egg period is 2 to 3 days.
Larval period is 10 to 15 days.
Pupation period 5 to 7 days
 Single female can lay 3000 eggs in a
generation.
The Bollgard Advantage is Subthreshold ProtectionTM. Protecting
Against Yield Loss Before and Between Sprays.
 Relative importance of cotton pests as targeted by farmers in India
(% represent the degree of importance given)

Helicoverpa 79
Jassids 45
Aphid 42
Whitefly 28
Cotton leafroller 22
Thrips 20
Tobacco caterpillar 19
Spotted bollworm 17
Red spider mite 12
Pink bollworm 9
Dusky cotton bug 5 Percentages
Mites 2

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Source: FKAIM Res. (1997)

 Av. no. of times insecticides sprayed by cotton
farmers
in various States in India
16 15
14

12
9.3
10
7.8 7.3
8 6.9 6.5 6.1 5.2
5.9 5.5
6

0
Andhra Karnataka Punjab Madhya Haryana Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Maharashtra Gujarat Total
Pradesh Pradesh Average

Source: FKAIM Res. (1997)

 Why Transform Cotton???

King of Apparel Fibers

White Gold

Cotton textile sector when harnessed on

scientific lines has the potential to
contribute
for an export of Rs 50,000 crores.
C. Subramaniam : Bharat Ratna
 Bt Gene History
Bt organism

1901 Japanese Biologist isolated from diseased silk worm

4 German Scientist isolated from flour moth –

grain mill Thuringia - Bacillus thuringiensis

1927 Bt Preperation - Targeting Lepidopteran insects

Germany
1938 Bt Commercial product- Sporeine in France
1940s Bt -Large scale - Thuricide by Sandoz
Bt Formulations:
Spore and Crystal proteins
Large scale production 1950s -
Thuricide TM
Never occupied large share
Organic farmers and gardeners
Plausible reasons:
Lack of Stability
Failure to Penetrate
Too Narrow Specificity
 Crystal Protein
Gene Insect activity
shape size(kDa)

cry I [several
subgroups: bipyramid lepidoptera
130-138
A(a), A(b), A(c), B, C, D, al larvae
E, F, G]

cry II [subgroups A, B, lepidoptera and

cuboidal 69-71
C] diptera

cry III [subgroups A, B, flat/irregu

73-74 coleoptera
C] lar

cry IV [subgroups A, B, bipyramid

73-134 diptera
C, D] al

cry V-IX various 35-129 various

 cry gene classes
90 cry genes encoding
25 distinct cry proteins
I. Lepidopteran-specific
II.Lepidopteran and Dipteran specific
III. Coleopteran specific
IV. Dipteran specific
V. Coleopteran and Lepidopteran
The basic process of plant transformation with
Agrobacterium and the gene gun. (click on image for a
26KB color illustration)
igure 3. Crown gall resulting when bacterial DNA is
naturally transformed into the tree. (Used with permission
from University of California Statewide IPM Project, J.K.
Clark, photographer) (click on image for a 37KB color
photograph)
 1966 USDA Scientist -isolated more
effective strain of B.t. kurstaki
– basis for many new Bt products

–Gram-positive,Spore-forming
– Produces a crystal protein which is TOXIC
to the gut cells- CRY PROTIEN

Bipyramidal
Spherical
Rectangular
Irregular pointed
Irregular spherical
The delta-endotoxins from Bacillus
thuringiensis are able to form pores
in the midgut membrane of insects,
killing them through starvation and
septicemia. Their toxicity is highly
specific against insects in the orders
of Lepidoptera(caterpillars),Diptera
(mosquitoes and black flies) and
Coleoptera (beetles and weevils). 

Endotoxins are safe to humans

 Target Pests
Cotton varieties containing the Bollgard gene are
consistently efficacious on tobacco budworm
(Heliothis virescens) and pink bollworm
(Pectinophora gossypiella). Bollgard varieties in
general provide effective suppression of cotton
bollworm (Helicoverpa zea), which should reduce the
number of spray applications for this pest throughout
most of the Cotton Belt. However, under certain
circumstances during the blooming period, producers
may need supplemental insecticide applications to
fully control cotton bollworm.
 MECHANISM OF ACTION
•Caterpillar consumes foliage with
Bt toxin
Toxin binds to receptors & inserts into
the gutcell membrane creating a pore for
ions to penetrate into cells
•Gut wall breaks down
•Caterpillar dies in 1-2 days
 1891 GMO CROPS RELEASED
INTO ENVIRONMENT IN USA FOR
HT/IR/FR/IR/PQ/PQ/VR/VR
 1.MONSANTO.2.CIBA-GEIGY,3.MILES,4.AMERICAN CYANAMIDE,5.MICHIGAN
STATE-Univ.6.NORTHRUP KING,7.DEKALB,8.DELTA AND PINELAND,
 9.EPA,10.CALGENE,11,PIONEER,12.NORTH CAROLINA
 STATE –U,13.ROGERS NK,14. MYCOGEN,15.HUNT-WESON,16.FRITO
LEY,17.DOW,18.U. OF GEORGIA,19.,20.JACOB HARTZ,21. CARGILL,22.
PETOSEED,23.ICI,24.ARS,25.ASGROW,
 26.NC+HYBRIDS,27.NEW MEXICO STATE U.28.HOLDENS,29.OHIO STATE
U.,30.HOLDENS,31. GENETIC ENTERPRISES,32.GREAT LAKES HYBRIDS,
 33.GOLDEN HARVEST SEEDS,34.LIMAGRAIN, 35.WYFFELS HYBRIDS,36.PLANT
GENETICS,37.BECKS SUPERIOR HYBRIDS,38.HARRIS MORAN,39.ICI-GARST,
 40.AGRACETUS,41.PLANT GENETIC SYSTEMS,41.OREGAN STATE U.,42. BHN
RESEARCH, 43 .U.OF CALIFORNIA,44.NOVARTIS SEEDS,45.GARST,
 46.AGRO EVO.47.STINE BIOTECHNOLOGY,48.U.OF CHICAGO,49.COOK G RUTGERS
U.50.SEMINIS VEGETABLE SEEDS,51.SCOTTS,52.
Mode of Action
 Key Dates in B.t., History

1981 Ernest Schnepf and Helen Whiteley cloned

Bt gene Gene products released CRY GENE
Products
1985 Global sales of Bt insecticides - $50 million
still less than 1% of total world insecticide
market
 sp rayin g Bt
fo rm ula tions
(En dotoxin s)
 The production of the biopesticide is
relatively expensive
 Its application requires Agricultural Machinery
 Requires repeated applications
 Sunlight breaks down the active ingredient
 Water/Rain washes the protein from the plants
 Thus, for limited time insects are exposed
 What is the
solution
Production of a system that is
– More stable
– Ever Ready

– TRANSGENIC PLANTS
– Plants that contain the FUNCTIONAL
CRY GENE
Cotton Production and Productivity
in Various Countries(2000)
Sl. No. Country Area Under Cotton Production of cotton Production of Cotton
(in 1000 ha) Kgs/ha (in 1000 tonnes)
1 India 8900 391 2856
2 USA 5376 769 4132
3 China 4560 943 4300
4 Pakistan 2890 552 1598
5 Turkey 709 1065 755
6 Egypt 360 873 315
7 Mexico 197 1056 208
CROP-WISE CONSUMPTION OF INSECTICIDES IN INDIA

Plantation 
Others
Crops Cotton
Fruits &  8%
8% 54%
Vegetables
13%

Rice
17%
 Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had a rather
unusual bunch of visitors last week - Greenpeace
protesters dressed up as sheep and cattle, who camped
outside his office. The "animals" were asking for an
investigation into the death of 1,600 head of cattle and
sheep in Andhra Pradesh in April 2006. The deaths were
closely linked to prolonged consumption of Bt cotton
stalks and leaves that were left in fields after the harvest.
Bt cotton is the only genetically modified (GM) seed sold
in India. In the four years since it has been in use, not only
has it failed to live up to its claim of being a `miracle seed',
but it has also had harmful effects on biosafety. At a time
when the safety of Bt cotton is highly suspect, the
government's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee

 (GEAC) is considering clearance of large-scale field trials

of Bt Brinjal. It is the first time that GM Brinjal is being
released for an advanced stage of field trials in open
conditions anywhere in the world. It is also the closest
India has got to sanctioning GM food crops.
 - S. Subramanium
 Development of Transgenic Bt Cotton

•Isolation of Cry gene from Bt

• Transformation Agrobacterium tumefaciencs

•A. t. cells grown with Plant Cells

•Transformed Plant cells identified and grown into

full plant for seed production

•Field Testing
 Monsanto developed first Transgenic
Bt Cotton
Trade Name BollgardTM

Monsanto transformed Cocker 312 with the

cry1A(c) gene
Crossed with ‘Elite variety’ followed by
several back crosses.
How B ol lga rd h elps t he cot ton
farm er ….
Improved insect control

❐ Less insecticide use

Lower input cost
Less environmental pollution
Less human exposure

❐ Potential for yield increase - increased

income

❐ Safe to beneficial insects

 Global Area of Bt-Crops & All Other
Transgenic Crops, 1996 - 1999
39.9 (44%)
50.0 All Transgenic Crops
Insect Resistant Bt-Crops
Hectares in million (& % increase

40.0
27.8 (153%)

30.0

20.0
11.0 (547%)

10.0 11.7
1.7 8.0
1.1 4.0
0.0
1996 1997 1998 1999
. Five major Gene
Giants -Pharmacia
(Monsanto), DuPont,
Syngenta, Bayer,
Dow - are the five
companies that
dominate ag biotech.
. Four industrial crop
commodities
soybeans [63%],
maize [19%],
cotton [13%],
canola [5%].
accounted for 100% of
the commercial GM crop
area planted in 2001.
Why develop Bt protected Cotton
Need
Tissue boring insects are difficult to reach with
chemical insecticides

Bt technology is:
Cost effective
Environmentally acceptable
Low-risk pest control tool
Why develop Bt protected Cotton
Positive aspects of Bt technology

Offers safe and effective insect control

Bt spray formulations are in use since
1961 and hence extensive safety database
on Bt insecticidal proteins is available
Intense need for better pest control
methods with environmental benefits
 Wh y develop Bt pr otected
Cott on
Technical feasibility

By a combination of methods in plant tissue culture

and molecular biology, Bt genes are easy to clone
and express in plants

Difficulty of efficiently expressing bacterial genes

in

plants have been overcome

Large gene pool of bioactive proteins in Bt strains

(resistance can be built easily)

Why develop Bt protected Cotton
Efficacy
Bt proteins in spray formulations have
been used for the last 40 years

Bt protected plants produce adequate

quantities of Bt protein to ensure effective
insect control
Bt proteins produced in plants are
protected from environmental degradation
 Bt PROTECTED CROPS
Crop Cry protein Pest(s) controlled Date of first
introduction
Potato Cry3A Colorado potato beetle 1995
Cotton Cry1Ac Tobacco budworm, cotton 1996
bollworm, pink bollworm
Corn Cry1Ab European corn borer, 1996
southwestern corn borer,
corn earworm
Corn Cry1Ac European corn borer, 1997
southwestern corn borer
So urc e : Betz et al. 200 0 (R eg. To xi c.
Pharma c. 32 ); EPA (19 95, 1996 & 1997 )
CONC ERN S
Ri sk As se ssm ent I ssue s
Bt - cotton

Fee d Sa fe ty
Aller gen ic it y
Outc rossi ng
Effec ts on Non -ta rget O rga nis ms
Deve lop men t of Re si stance in
boll wor ms to Cr y1 Ac
 Safety assessment summary for Bollgard
cotton shows . . .
Co mpo nen t Cha ng ed
Uncha nge d
Nu tri ti ona l c ompo siti on ✔
Anima l feed perfo rma nc e✔
(ro dents & birds
So il mi cro flor a )

To xica nts ✔
CPFA , a fl ato xi n * )

Pr oces si ng /fiber qu ality ✔ Agrono mi c

perf or ma nc e ✔
Sa fet y to no n- ta rg et or gani sms ✔
Disea se su sc eptibi lity /outcrossing /
competit iv en ess ✔
Res ista nc e to lepido pter an i nsec ts ✔
Two a ddi ti onal pr ot eins ✔
 Safety Assessment of
Biotech Products
Scientific studies :
 Characterization of genetic insert in the plant
 Safety of the newly expressed protein(s)
 Rapidly degr aded i n so il
 That the genetic modification has not changed
the safety and nutritional qualities of the food
or feed
 Environmental safety
 Animal Feeding Studies Confirmed the
safety and nutritional quality of B.t.
cotton…..

B.t. Cotton equivalent to control

28 day rat ✔
5-8 day quail ✔
10 week catfish ✔
90 day goat ✔

…...Compared to control and conventional cotton varieties

DEVELOPMENT OF Bt COTTON IN INDIA

1994: Application of import seed

1995: Imported seed
1995-96:Green house trial
1996-97: Limited field trials at 5 locations
over 2 years
1998: Multilocation replicated trials
1998: Safety data presented on
ruminant and allerginicity studies
1999: Data on multicentric trials ready
2000-01: second year tests in progress
 International Scenario
Last 20 years nearly 25000 crop field trials -
with 60 crops for 10 traits in 45 countries.

1992 - China - Virus Resistant Tobacco

1994 - USA - Delayed Ripening in Tomato

1996 - 97 Principal Crops were grown in

7 million acres around the world

Tobacco, Cotton, Soybean,

Corn, Canola, Tomato and Potato.
 GLOBAL COMMERCIAL STATUS
COUNTRY YEAR OF APPROVAL 1998 ACREAGE
USA 1995 2500 k acres
Australia 1996 200 k acres
Mexico 1997 100 k acres
China 1998 130 k acres
Argentina 1998 20 k acres
S. Africa 1998 30 k acres
Total 2980 k acres
Adv ant ages of usi ng Bt pr otec ted Cr op s
Re duced inse cti ci dal tr eat ment
Reducti on in Pesticide Applicat ions in
Nu mber
theo U.S.
f Pestici de Treatm ents f or Bollw orm /B udw orm Acr oss
Six M ajo r Cotto n Stat es in th e US

Bo llgard
Intro du ce d

INS EC T PR OTEC TED C OT TON - 1 998 SOURCE: GIANESSI &

CARPENTER; National
Conv en tio nal cott on : 5. 3 sp ray s Center for Food and
In sect- prot ect ed cotton : 1. 8 sp ray s Agricultural Policy, July
1999
NE T: > 5M acr e-tr eatm en ts elim in at ed
2. 0M lbs of in secti cide elim in ated
 INDIA GOVT. approves
use of Bt.cotton
 The GEAC has approved the release of three
transgenic Bt cotton hybrids,
 MAHYCO,on 27 March 2002
 Bt BECH 12, Bt BECH 162, Bt BECH 184,containing
‘CRY 1 Ac’ and other genes offers resistance for
bollworms upto 100 DAS
 The period of validity of approval is for three years
from April 2002-March 2005
 Monsanto owns a 26% stake in MAHYCO.
 to sell the RCH 2 Bt seed in 
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, 
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, 
Karnataka and Andhra 
Pradesh. 
RCH 2 is developed by Rassi Seeds, a sub-
licencee of the US multinational,
Monsanto. RCH 2 becomes the fourth Bt
cotton seed variety to be released . 
NEW DELHI, MAY 22:  The Genetic 
Engineering Approval Committee 
(GEAC) in its emergency meeting 
convened on last Friday approved two 
Bt cotton hybrids of Nuziveedu Seeds 
namely NCS-145 Bunny Bt and NCS-
207 Mallika Bt for commercial 
cultivation in south and central India.
 (GEAC) --  approved large-scale field trials 
and seed production of 12 varieties of Bt 
cotton hybrids. At a meeting on April 
15,2005, the committee allowed Rasi Seeds to 
conduct large-scale field trials and produce 
seeds for RCH 118 Bt and RCH 559 Bt in 
central India. Rasi Seeds has also been 
allowed to conduct field trials and produce 
seeds for RCH 368 Bt in south India and 
RCH 317 Bt in north India. 
. 
 the seeds of choice for the farmers have
been the legally approved RCH-2 Bt (Rasi
seeds) and Bunny-Bt (Nuziveedu Seeds)
with royalties of Rs1250 per packet going to
Monsanto who owns the patent for the Bt
gene. A plethora of cheaper unauthorised
and unauthenticated Bt seed of dubious
origin have also been sold openly in the
market. @Rs1650/-450g.Pkt.
 Mustard Next
15.6 m.bales(170kg) Next crop going to be
taken up is MUSTARD in coming few
months
SOYBEAN,CORN,RICE,& alsoCHICK
PEA(ICRISAT) would be others in the list.
Mahyco trails goes on all vegetables-
brinjal,cucurbits,chillies,gourds etc
GM BRINJAL
Indian Cotton Farmers Betrayed
Bt cotton has miraculous powers?
Bt cotton in the �Pesticide capital 
of the world -GUNTUR   
Black is white for Bt cotton 
Science finds against Bt cotton
Bt cotton kills thousands
Indian Government knew all 
along.Bt crops break all biosafety 
rules.
Return to organic agriculture is 
the real solution
Thanking
U
All