Bt cotton yielded high income for farmers: Union Minister

New Delhi, Aug 7 (IANS) A study conducted by ICAR-CICR found that the income of farmers has increased with the adoption of Bt cotton in the country as the yield is higher by 3 to 4 quintals per acre and there is a reduction in insecticide cost against the cotton bollworm, Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Ramnath Thakur informed the Lok Sabha.

The current net return from Bt cotton is estimated at Rs 25,000 per hectare in rainfed areas with the adoption of suitable agronomy. With the rapid adoption of Bt. cotton by the farmers, currently more than 96 per cent area under cotton cultivation is occupied by Bt cotton, he added,

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)- Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), Nagpur conducted a study to evaluate the impact of Bt cotton in Maharashtra during 2012-13 and 2013-14. ICAR-CICR also conducted a study on the impact of Bt cotton on soil ecology.

During the period of survey, the incidence of bollworm infestation reduced drastically and the number of insecticide applications fell from eight to four. Further, ICAR-CICR studies had shown no adverse effect of Bt cotton cultivation on soil ecological parameters.

Bt cotton is the only Genetically Modified (GM) crop approved in 2002 by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for commercial cultivation in the country, the minister added.

During the year 2023–24, Bt cotton was grown in 129.27 lakh hectares in 11 cotton-producing states of the country. The total production of Bt cotton during the year was 336.6 lakh bales while the yield was estimated at 443 kg per hectare.

Maharashtra had the highest area under Bt cotton cultivation with the crop being grown in 41.82 lakh hectares, Gujarat was in the second spot with 24.84 lakh hectares followed by Telangana with 19.73 lakh and Karnataka with 9.49 lakh hectares.

In Andhra Pradesh there were 7.04 lakh hectares under Bt cotton during 202-23 while as many as 4,73,345 farmers were cultivating the crop, the minister said.

Among the northern states, Rajasthan had the highest acreage under Bt cotton with the crop being sown in 8.15 lakh hectares. Neighbouring Haryana devoted 5.75 lakh lakh hectares to Bt cotton while Punjab had 2.49 lakh hectares under the crop.

In the central region, the crop was being grown in Madhya Pradesh which had 5.95 lakh hectares sown with Bt cotton during 2022-23.

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