SWOT Analysis of Refuge-in-Bag for Bt-cotton In India

Growing a refuge crop is an integral part of transgenic crops with gene(s) from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and a key requirement to delay evolution of Bt resistance in target pests. Poor refuge planting with Bt-cotton in India, for many years, is a major reason for the outbreak of Bt resistance in pink bollworm and consequent erosion in the efficacy of Bt-cotton technology. As a remedial measure, the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India has directed complete shift to the marketing of Bt-cotton seeds blended with non-Bt refuge cotton seeds (refuge-in-bag; RIB) from this (2020) season onwards. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of RIB Bt-cotton combination in the context of known behaviour of cotton lepidopteran pests and prior exposure to the same Bt toxins since 2002, is discussed. Bt-cotton with RIB, if implemented with strong stewardship, will have far-reaching benefits and is expected to delay Bt resistance development in target lepidopteran cotton pests. However, the relevance of RIB for Bt-resistant pink bollworm could be in question.