- Cotton bollworm was a serious pest in China and was controlled with pesticide sprays
- Transgenic Bt cotton was introduced as a better management strategy for bollworm
- In the absence of regular sprays, a minor pest (the mirid bug) has become a real problem
Kudos to the Chinese ag scientists for being on top of this! I hope they can come up with some cheap and safe solutions for their farmers.
In the meanwhile, after cotton prices have plummeted the past few years due to china's high production, they are now back to a reasonable price for american cotton farmers. Cotton acreage has increased for the first time in a few years.
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