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In 2006, a small airplane started buzzing each cotton field in Arizona, a thin, dust-like cloud trailing behind it. The dust was millions of insects called pink bollworms, and the flights were part of an audacious scheme to kill them off.Pink bollworms are insidious foes of cotton. Their larvae burrow into the plant’s seed pods, called bolls, destroying the fluffy fiber within. Where bollworms infest a field, farmers may spray insecticides many times a year to limit the damage. But the air-dropped insects released in Arizona had been exposed to radiation that left them sterile, so any pink b...

Bt crops keep many agricultural pests at bay and have drastically reduced the use of pesticides. But scientists warn that these valuable tools are in jeopardy due to overuse and abuse.

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AMES, Iowa – The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is honoring six Iowa State University researchers for their work in

Published 13 January 2021 A lurking threat that has stymied US corn growers for decades is now returning to the forefront: western corn rootworm. Sometimes referred to as the “billion-dollar bug,” the species’ tiny larvae chew through the roots of corn plants, causing devastating yield losses. In 2003, farmers began planting a genetically engineered variety of corn known as “Bt,” which produces a protein toxic to the pest species – but by 2009, the billion-dollar bug had already evolved adaptations for resistance to the toxin. Study shows how individual farming practices associate...