It would be ironic were it not so damaging. Agricultural pests are wreaking havoc with China’s great experiment in pest-resistant genetically modified crops. Plagues of mirids are infesting the cotton fields of 5 million Chinese farmers whose crops are modified to resist the bollworm larvae. The farmers are being forced to use vast amounts of expensive insecticide to eradicate them, all but removing the economic benefits of growing GM cotton in the first place.
When GM cotton was first grown in China in the late 1990s, the yields produced were hailed as evidence that the technology could benefit poor farmers.…
