Early studies of Bt cotton’s impacts in China and India found increases in yield per hectare, especially in India, and major reductions in pesticide use, especially in China which led to positive health impacts. In recent years, little has been published on impacts of GM crops, leading to the question: have Chinese and Indian farmers continued to benefit?  This paper assesses findings of recent publications on this topic and presents new, unpublished data to 

answer this question and to examine potential benefit from several new GM crops.

 

The promise of major benefits of Bt cotton identified in early studies 

has spread to all areas of China and India where bollworm is a 

control bollworm in both countries, and farmers continue as major 

biotech or seed companies.  In China, evidence also suggests that Bt 

bollworm population so that growers and producers of other crops 

are benefitting.  This paper also finds that Bt rice and Bt eggplant 

impacts― increasing farmers’ profits by reducing pesticide use and 

to chemical pesticides. Both crops were approved for commercial 

biosafety regulators, but adoption of GM eggplant has been held up 

by the Indian Minister of the Environment while specific Bt rice hybrids are still being evaluated by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture