Bts Celebrate 100 Years, published in the
2002 Florida Tomato Institute Proceedings"Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) bioinsecticides are celebrating a birthday of sorts. Roughly a century ago, in 1901 Japan, a bacteriologist discovered the Bt bacterium. Field tests for the first commercial Bt product began in the late 1920s and ever since Bts have played a role in agricultural pest management.
'It is surprising,' H. Charles
Mellinger, Ph.D. says. 'Bts have lasted
a unique length of time.'.....'Bts are nuggets that have been
with us for so long, and they still are
so effective,' Dr. Mellinger says.
'That’s the gem of the deal, right
there.'"
When There's A Will, There's A Way, by
Lesa Morey, staff writer, Florida
Grower, September 2001
"If Florida’s vegetable growers are compelled to give up several higher- risk organophosphates and carbamates during the next few years because of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), Florida vegetable growers say they expect to be able to manage their insect pests alright — most of the time. This assumes, of course, that regulators don’t pull too many insecticides from both families too quickly. If they do, a subsequent jump in the use of remaining chemicals could trigger a whole new set of pest problems."
