Introduction

Cotton the White Gold is an important cash crop of India which plays a vital role in the Indian economy. As an industrial crop, it supports millions of people through cultivation, processing and trade and contributes Rs.360 billion to the export income. The area occupied by cotton in recent years fluctuated between 8 and 9 million hectares in India. For over three thousand years India was recognized as the cradle of cotton industry. India thus enjoys the distinction of being the earliest country in the world to domesticate cotton and utilize its fibre to manufacture fabric. The cultivation, processing and trade industries support millions of people and contribute 40 to 45% of the export income. Bt cotton was commercialized in India in the year 2002.

Development of Bt Cotton
1996 - The crop was economically grown in USA in 73000 ha 1997 - In China 1 million ha

1998 - 1.5 million ha (USA, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, China and South Africa)
2001 - 5 million farmers grown Bt-cotton in which 99% were in developed countries 2002 - Commercialization of Monsantos Bt-cotton was approved

2003 - Area increased approximately to 100,000 hectares in India

Area under Bt cotton hybrids in 2006 07 (Lakh hectares)

State Total State Bt cotton % of Bt Area hybrid area cotton area 6.18 5.33 3.08 23.90 31.24 6.66 9.48 3.56 0.94 91.37 2.81 0.42 0.05 4.07 16.55 3.02 6.57 0.80 0.32 34.61 45.5 7.9 1.6 17.0 53.0 45.3 69.3 22.5 34.0 37.9 Punjab Haryana Rajasthan Gujarat Maharashtra Madhya Pradesh Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Tamil Nadu Total

Cotton bollworms
The cotton bollworm complex in India includes the false American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigira), Pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella), spotted bollworm (Earias vittella) and spiny bollworm ((Earias insulana). Among the above H.armigera is the most dominant and difficult to control chiefly due to its wide spread insecticide resistance, multivoltine and prolific pattern of feeding and high polyphagy. It is highly destructive and wasteful feeder in the sense that a single larva can damage squares and bolls and had a wide distribution.

Genetics of Bt-Cotton
The bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis produce two types of toxins namely 1. Cry (Crystal) toxin encoded by different cry genes and 2. Kytolytic toxin. Over 50 genes have been noted to encode for cry toxin and they are sequenced for various studies. The various genes and their properties are tabulated here under The commercial Btcotton available today contain genes from the isolate B-thuringiensis, ssp. Kurstaki that produces Cry I A(a), Cry I A(b), Cry I A(c), Cry IIA

Crystal shape Gene Cry I A(a), A(b), A(c), Bipyramidal B, C, D, E, F, G Cry II (Sub group) A, B, C Cry III (Sub group) A, B, C Cry IV (Sub group) A, B, C, D Cry V IX Cuboidal

Protein size (KD) 130 138

Insect actively

Lepidopteran larva

69 - 71

Lepidoptera, diptera

Flat irregular

73 74

Coleoptara

Biopyrimidal

73 134

Diptera

Various

35 129

Various

Mode of action of the toxin

Use of Bt-Genes in Cotton

The Bt genes that are currently deployed are from two sources. Monsanto developed and deployed the Cry IA(c) gene in its Bollgard varieties, which are the most widely used in all nine countries that grow cotton. The second source is the Bt-fused gene that was developed by the public sector, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) in Beijing, China (Jayaraman et al., 2005)

consequences of Bt-Cotton
Insecticide use decline; Reduced pyrethroids: Pink bollworm, mirid bugs & Spodoptera are re-emerging H. armigera & whitefly are taking a backseat Parawilt: Some genotypes struggle with high boll retention, water imbalance, punctatum blood of hirsutum, undesirable heterosis (Mayee et al., 2004) High expectations, less results from rainfed and less fertile soils Susceptibility to sucking pests Linkage drag!! Good control of bollworm species Significantly higher boll retention and more yield than the control Reduction in chemical sprays for bollworm control (50% less than that required for conventional commercial hybrids. Induces earliness about 20 30 days than the non Bt. Substantial increase in net income to farmers. No adverse impact on non-target organisms and the adjacent non Bt cotton or other crops.