Current situation of pests targeted by Bt crops in Latin America
•Genetically engineered (GE) crops that produce Bacillus thuringiensis proteins have been planted throughout Latin America for the past 20 years.•GE crops (cotton, maize and soybean) in those countries target and effectively control a variety of lepidopteran and coleopteran pests.•Of the 40 pest spe...
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| Published in: | Current opinion in insect science 2016-06, Vol.15, p.131-138 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | •Genetically engineered (GE) crops that produce Bacillus thuringiensis proteins have been planted throughout Latin America for the past 20 years.•GE crops (cotton, maize and soybean) in those countries target and effectively control a variety of lepidopteran and coleopteran pests.•Of the 40 pest species that are satisfactorily controlled by these agricultural biotechnology cultivars, Spodoptera frugiperda (fall armyworm) is the only pest that has become tolerant to a variety of B. thuringiensis proteins.•Growers in Latin America still rely of GE crops to control most of the target pests, using GE cultivars that produce two B. thuringiensis proteins and/or apply synthetic insecticides on GE maize and GE soybean fields with high S. frugiperda pressure.•The control of S. frugiperda on GE maize may require between 0 and 2 synthetic insecticides applications, while on non-GE maize 12 or more application are necessary in some cases.•GE crops that produce B. thuringiensis proteins are effective tools for Latin American growers.
Transgenic crops producing Bacillus thuringiensis- (Bt) insecticidal proteins (Bt crops) have provided useful pest management tools to growers for the past 20 years. Planting Bt crops has reduced the use of synthetic insecticides on cotton, maize and soybean fields in 11 countries throughout Latin America. One of the threats that could jeopardize the sustainability of Bt crops is the development of resistance by targeted pests. Governments of many countries require vigilance in measuring changes in Bt-susceptibility in order to proactively implement corrective measures before Bt-resistance is widespread, thus prolonging the usefulness of Bt crops.
A pragmatic approach to obtain information on the effectiveness of Bt-crops is directly asking growers, crop consultants and academics about Bt-resistance problems in agricultural fields, first-hand information that not necessarily relies on susceptibility screens performed in laboratories. This type of information is presented in this report.
Problematic pests of cotton and soybeans in five Latin American countries currently are effectively controlled by Bt crops. Growers that plant conventional (non-Bt) cotton or soybeans have to spray synthetic insecticides against multiple pests that otherwise are controlled by these Bt crops. A similar situation has been observed in six Latin American countries where Bt maize is planted. No synthetic insecticide applications are used to control corn pests be |
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| ISSN: | 2214-5745 |