351 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 Mehboob-ur-Rahman et al. (eds.), Cotton Precision Breeding, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64504-5_16 Chapter 16 Critical Evaluation of GM Cotton G. Balasubramani, K. P. Raghavendra, Joy Das, Rakesh Kumar, H. B. Santosh, J. Amudha, Sandhya Kranthi, and K. R. Kranthi 16.1 Introduction Genetically modifed (GM) crops mainly aimed to increase crop protection through the introduction of resistance against insects and diseases and tolerance to herbi- cides. Since their approval for commercial cultivation, they have been adopted in no less than 70 countries across the globe during the last 2 decades. During the span of 23 years (1996–2018), global area coverage of GM crops with now 2.5 billion hect- ares amounted to an upsurge of ~113-fold since 1996 (ISAAA 2018). Till 2018, GM cotton held a global area of 24.9 million hectares (Mha), making it the third most adopted GM crops, ranked right after soybean and maize (Burkitbayeva et al. 2016; ISAAA 2018). As per 2017 FAO global crop area coverage report, GM cotton shared 76% of the global cotton area in 2018 (ISAAA 2018). Notably, among all GM crops, Bt cotton has gained immense popularity and acceptability among small- holder farmers across the globe (Burkitbayeva et al. 2016). No wonder, Bt cotton has been the sole adopted and cultivated GM crops among several countries, par- ticularly in developing nations like India (11.6 mha), Pakistan (2.8 mha), Myanmar (0.3 mha), Sudan (0.2 mha), Mexico (0.2 mha), and Eswatini (<0.1 mha) (ISAAA 2018). As a matter of concern, most of such developing nations are still lacking a sound regulatory milieu for strict monitoring of illegal and unauthorized dissemina- tion of GM seeds or planting materials among the local cotton growers. As for instance, 6 out of 11 top GM crop-growing countries around the globe had recorded illegal cross-border permeation and released unauthorized GM seeds for sale pre- ceding any approval from concerned regulatory authorities. Interestingly, all those G. Balasubramani · K. P. Raghavendra · J. Das · R. Kumar · H. B. Santosh · J. Amudha Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur, India S. Kranthi · K. R. Kranthi () International Cotton Advisory Committee, Washington, DC, USA e-mail: keshav@icac.org