Bt Cotton Team

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This site provides information regarding Bt cotton in Arizona. It includes basic information about Bt cotton, and regulations and recommendations concerning growing Bt cotton in Arizona.

What is Bt cotton?
Bt cotton includes a gene from Bacillus thuringiensis, a soil bacterium. The gene encodes a protein capable of killing some species of caterpillars. Bt cotton plants produce the protein; caterpillars feeding on the cotton die or develop much more slowly. See Background

Why Bt cotton?
Bt cotton, because the insecticide is present in the tissues of the cotton, controls susceptible insect pests like the pink bollworm that live and feed within the developing cotton boll. In Arizona, the introduction of Bt cotton allowed growers to greatly reduce their use of other insecticides, thereby reducing the environmental impact of growing cotton. See Why Bt?

Regulations & Recommendations
Growing Bt cotton is subject to several regulations. Information concerning these regulations and links to further information are provided at this site. Also the Recommendations of the Arizona Bt Cotton Working Group are available here. See Regulations

Resistance Management
When insecticides are used on insects there is a risk the insects will become able to survive the insecticides. Bt cotton exposes insects to Bt toxin throughout the growing season, yielding months of exposure of insects to Bt toxin. One of our goals is to reduce that risk for Bt cotton by developing appropriate resistance management strategies. See Resistance Management

Who We Are
We are a group of scientists at the University of Arizona dedicated to providing research-based recommendations and information on Bt cotton. Our goal is to sustain the effectiveness of Bt cotton so that it can be used effectively to help control crop damage with minimum environmental damage. We interact cooperatively with growers, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other private and government organizations to create and share research-based, grower-based, and community-based information. See Contact Info