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A decade of Bt cotton in Chinese fields: Assessing the direct effects and indirect externalities of Bt cotton adoption in China

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Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine whether or not the gains from reduced spraying for bollworms are being sustained more than one decade after the initial adoption in 2007. Based on farm-level data collected by the authors in 1999–2007 in 16 villages from 4 provinces, this study shows that insecticides applied for controlling bollworms have declined. This analysis supports Chinese policy makers’ decision to not require refuges of non-Bt cotton fields. It also suggests that past studies may have underestimated the benefits from adopting Bt technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resource Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    JiKun Huang, JianWei Mi, Hai Lin, ZiJun Wang, RuiJian Chen & RuiFa Hu

  2. Department of Economic Prediction, State Information Center, Beijing, 100045, China

    JianWei Mi

  3. China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Hai Lin

  4. School of Management, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    ZiJun Wang

  5. Foreign Economic Cooperative Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, 100125, China

    RuiJian Chen

  6. Food Security and the Environment Program, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-6055, USA

    Scott Rozelle

  7. School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901-8520, USA

    Carl Pray

Authors
  1. JiKun Huang
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  2. JianWei Mi
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  3. Hai Lin
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  4. ZiJun Wang
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  5. RuiJian Chen
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  6. RuiFa Hu
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  7. Scott Rozelle
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  8. Carl Pray
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Correspondence to JiKun Huang.

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Huang, J., Mi, J., Lin, H. et al. A decade of Bt cotton in Chinese fields: Assessing the direct effects and indirect externalities of Bt cotton adoption in China. Sci. China Life Sci. 53, 981–991 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-010-4036-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-010-4036-y

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