State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
National Agro-Technical Extension and Service Center, Beijing, China.
Plant Biotechnol J. 2022 Feb;20(2):390-398. doi: 10.1111/pbi.13721. Epub 2021 Oct 18.
Genetically-modified crops expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins have been widely cultivated, permitting an effective non-chemical control of major agricultural pests. While their establishment can enable an area-wide suppression of polyphagous herbivores, no information is available on the impact of Bt crop abandonment in entire landscape matrices. Here, we detail a resurgence of the cosmopolitan bollworm Helicoverpa armigera following a contraction of Bt cotton area in dynamic agro-landscapes over 2007-2019 in North China Plain. An 80% reduction in Bt cotton was mirrored in a 1.9-fold increase of ambient H. armigera population levels, culminating in 1.5-2.1-fold higher yield loss and a 2.0-4.4-fold increase in pesticide use frequency in non-Bt crops (i.e. maize, peanut, soybean). Our work unveils the fate of herbivorous insect populations following a progressive dis-use of insecticidal crop cultivars, and hints at how tactically deployed Bt crops could be paired with agro-ecological measures to mitigate the environmental footprint of crop production.
已经广泛种植了表达苏云金芽孢杆菌（Bt）蛋白的基因改良作物，从而可以有效地进行非化学防治农业上的主要害虫。虽然这些作物的种植可以实现对多食性草食性昆虫的大面积抑制，但目前还没有关于整个景观基质中放弃种植 Bt 作物的影响的信息。在这里，我们详细描述了在华北平原 2007-2019 年期间，Bt 棉种植面积不断缩小的动态农业景观中，世界性棉铃虫 Helicoverpa armigera 的卷土重来。Bt 棉减少了 80%，而环境中 H. armigera 种群水平增加了 1.9 倍，导致非 Bt 作物（即玉米、花生、大豆）的产量损失增加了 1.5-2.1 倍，农药使用频率增加了 2.0-4.4 倍。我们的工作揭示了在逐步停止使用杀虫作物品种后，食草昆虫种群的命运，并暗示了如何巧妙地部署 Bt 作物，可以与农业生态措施相结合，减轻作物生产对环境的影响。
