Emergence of minor pests becoming major pests in GE cotton in China: what are the reasons? What are the alternatives practices to this change of status?

A recent study in China by Lu et al.(1) shows that populations of an occasional cotton pest, mirid bugs (Heteroptera: Miridae), increased following the introduction of genetically engineered (GE) cotton plants. The GE cotton produces a delta-endotoxin from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to control the cotton bollworm. Before the introduction of Bt cotton in China, mirid bugs were usually controlled by broad-spectrum pesticide sprays targeted against the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), the most important pest of cotton in China. The effectiveness of the control of H. armigera by Bt cotton cultivation has resulted in a decrease in the amount of insecticides used on Bt cotton compared to conventional cotton. This has led to a lack of control of mirids on Bt cotton due to the reduction in broad-spectrum insecticide use and consequently to a transformation of a minor pest to a main one. We discuss the scientific evidence available in the literature of this phenomenon. We examine the reasons of the emergence of minor pests to become major pests in Bt cotton in China and possible solutions to this change of status.