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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Pest-Resistant Crops Better Than Insecticide Use, Analysis Says


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Crops that are genetically modified to resist pests may be a better alternative to farming with insecticides, a new report says.

The results suggest that cotton and corn crops containing a gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis have less of an effect on the "good guys"—beneficial insects such as ladybird beetles, earthworms, and honeybees—than do insecticides.

Photograph by Scott Bauer/USDA