A black (white) hole in the global spread of GM cotton

Bt cotton has been widely adopted, notably by smallholder farmers in developing countries. However, it has not been used in Central Asia, an important cotton-producing region. We discuss possible reasons and hypothesize that the most likely explanation is limited local demand for Bt technology due to low pest infestation. This would imply that global Bt cotton adoption rates may be close to 100% when considering real demand for insect-resistant varieties.

Publication year:2016

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