Abstract
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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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
Bt cotton reduced insecticide use in Arizona fields.
- Taxon
- cotton
Gossypium hirsutume0 - Material
- transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cottone0
- Treatment
- use of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cottone0
- Outcome
- insecticide usee0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Setting
- Arizonae0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“A 2-year farm-scale evaluation of 81 commercial fields in Arizona show that use of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton reduced insecticide use”
Claim · model-written summary
BtHr cotton did not affect herbicide use.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutume0
- Material
- transgenic cotton with Bt protein and herbicide resistance (BtHr)e0
- Treatment
- transgenic cotton with Bt protein and herbicide resistance (BtHr)e0
- Outcome
- herbicide usee0
- Direction
- did not affecte0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“transgenic cotton with Bt protein and herbicide resistance (BtHr) did not affect herbicide use”
Claim · model-written summary
At a given number of insecticide applications, transgenic cotton yielded more than nontransgenic cotton.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutume0
- Material
- Transgenic cottone0
- Outcome
- yielde0
- Direction
- highere0
- Qualifier
- for any given number of insecticide applicationse0
- Comparator
- nontransgenic cottone0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Transgenic cotton had higher yield than nontransgenic cotton for any given number of insecticide applications”
Claim · model-written summary
Overall yields were similar across nontransgenic, Bt, and BtHr cotton.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutume0
- Material
- nontransgenic, Bt and BtHr cottone0
- Outcome
- yieldse0
- Direction
- similare0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“nontransgenic, Bt and BtHr cotton had similar yields overall”
Claim · model-written summary
Higher insecticide use in nontransgenic cotton improved control of key pests.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutume0
- Material
- nontransgenic cottone0
- Treatment
- higher insecticide usee0
- Interactor
- key pestse0pest
- Outcome
- control of key pestse0
- Direction
- improvede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“higher insecticide use with nontransgenic cotton improved control of key pests”
Claim · model-written summary
Insecticides reduced nontarget insect diversity, unlike Bt and BtHr cotton.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutume0
- Treatment
- insecticidese0
- Interactor
- nontarget insectse0other
- Outcome
- diversity of nontarget insectse0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Comparator
- Bt and BtHr cottone0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Unlike Bt and BtHr cotton, insecticides reduced the diversity of nontarget insects”
Claim · model-written summary
Other agronomic and ecological factors affected biodiversity.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutumt0
- Outcome
- biodiversitye0
- Qualifier
- Several other agronomic and ecological factorse0
Not reportedSettingDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“cotton”
e0“Several other agronomic and ecological factors also affected biodiversity”
Claim · model-written summary
Relative to adjacent noncultivated sites, transgenic and nontransgenic cotton cultivation had similar effects on nontarget insect diversity.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutume0
- Interactor
- nontarget insectse0other
- Outcome
- diversity of nontarget insectse0
- Direction
- similare0
- Comparator
- adjacent noncultivated sitese0
- Setting
- cotton fieldse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“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”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors conclude that replacing broad-spectrum insecticides with Bt crops can reduce intensification impacts if control of non-Bt pests remains effective.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutumt0
- Treatment
- replacement of broad-spectrum insecticides by narrow-spectrum Bt cropse0
- Interactor
- pestse0pest
- Outcome
- impacts of agricultural intensification can be reducede0
- Qualifier
- does not reduce control of pests not affected by Bt cropse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“cotton”
e0“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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See all 27 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.