Farmers prosper with Bt cotton cultivation
Agbioworld
Business Standard (India)
July 11, 2007
Excerpt…
Cotton farmers have earned an additional income of Rs 7,039 crore in 2006 after a 50 per cent increase in yield due to the used Bt cotton seed, says an Assocham report. Assocham's report 'Bt Cotton Farming in India', a joint effort of lndicus Analytics and lMRB, establishes the overall socio-economic benefits that have accrued to the cotton farmers as a result of the introduction of this technology.
"Farmers who planted Bt cotton 'Farmers who planted Bt cotton in 2006 earned an additional Rs 7,039 crore in income based on 8.77 million acreage penetration achieved during the crop season," the report said,
The report said that there has been about 50 per cent higher yield increase in Bt fields in 2006, when compared with conventional cotton fields.
"The net profit to farmers from Bt cultivations was significantly higher by 162% percent at Rs 7,757 per acre over conventional cotton," it said. While the use of Bt cotton has fetched farmers Rs 12,541 per acre, the conventional cotton has yielded Rs 4484 per acre, the study says.
"Bt cotton is now extensively used. India has become surplus in cotton and is ranked third in the world, About 3.8 million hectare of area is under Bt cultivation, which is a 2 per cent increase over 2006, across 9 states," said Anil K Agarwal, the former Assocham President.
The officials pointed out that despite the Bt seed costing 2.5 times more than the conventional ones, the farmers are able to generate additional income through savings in the reduction of pesticides besides the higher yield. "The total reduction in pesticide expense is Rs 934 per acre," an official said, adding overall cotton production had gone up by 31.20 million quintals of seed cotton or 18.35 million bales (I70 kg a bale) due to the shift.
As regarding the socio-economic benefit, the report said nearly 40 percent of the Bt users have endorsed the fact that they now need to spend less time on the field due to the adoption of Bt cotton. 'The time thus saved is utilized for nurturing their children by assisting them in education and planning their future, the report said….
Full article at Agbioworld.
