Farmers' knowledge, perceptions and practices in transgenic Bt cotton in small producer systems in Northern China

Farmers in Northern China were interviewed during the 2002 season concerning their knowledge, perceptions and practices on Bt cotton. Farmers have some awareness of insect pests in Bt cotton, especially on the resurgence of sucking pests such as red spider mites and aphids, but 60% of farmers overestimated damage by Helicoverpa armigera, the cotton bollworm in Bt cotton. Farmers' knowledge was very poor on the identification of diseases and natural enemies of pests in cotton. Farmers' knowledge and perceptions of Bt cotton were not significantly associated with their gender or formal education. All the farmers in the survey had adopted Bt cotton during the 5-year period since seed became commercially available in 1997. Their reasons for adoption were either; to save labour, to reduce pesticide applications, to obtain higher yields or to make cotton growing more profitable. Farmers used more than 7 varieties of Bt cotton and 29% of the seed used was home-retained. Pesticide was sprayed intensively on Bt cotton with an average of 12.7 applications per season. The results indicate that farmers were still over-utilising pesticides in the control of pests in Bt cotton. Farmers in small producer cotton systems need further training in the identification of pests, natural enemies, basic ecology and integrated pest management strategies to ensure sustainable production of Bt cotton.