On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Cotton genetically modified to produce a pesticide from the microbe Bacillus thuringiensis does not guarantee longterm financial benefit. Cornell University researchers and their colleagues interviewed 481 Chinese farmers in five major cotton-growing provinces. For years Bt farmers there reaped at least a third more profit than conventional growers from the money saved by slashing pesticide use up to 70 percent. But then Bt-resistant insects, such as mirids, proliferated (though for at least one season, an unusually cool, wet summer led to a large mirid outbreak). The new pests forced the farmers to spray crops as much as conventional growers did. That ate away the profits, because Bt seed costs three times more than conventional seed. The scientists, who presented their findings at the July 25 American Agricultural Economics Association meeting in Long Beach, Calif., suggested targeting secondary pests with natural predators or modifying cotton even further to resist them.
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber
