THE KARNATAKA State Seeds Association has stopped production of hybrid seeds for cotton since 2009 citing their bad performance compared to the genetically modified variety, says Institution of Agriculture Technologists member Satish Chandra.
An abstract of the Seed Production Programme of the Karnataka State Seeds Corporation for the year 2009-2010 shows no sign of research on cotton seed.
Cotton is one of the major cash crops produced in Karnataka which has a huge demand in the international market. Owing to this and also the hassle-free cultivation of Bt cotton in the state, the per acre output of cotton in Bt farms has grown higher by 16% over non Bt farms says a College of Agriculture, Raichur report released in 2008.
The Government of Karnataka during the 11th Plan period from 2007-08 to 2011-12 has planned to enhance agriculture growth by 4.5 % according to a press release issued on the occasion of National Level Seed Convention at Davangere held last year.
Karnataka produced 6 million quintals of cotton in the year 2009 and the state’s share of the cotton exports of the country is around 5 per cent. India exports over 8 million bales of cotton every year.
The cotton-growing areas are concentrated in the central and northern regions of Karnataka. There are, roughly, 1.5 million cotton growers in the state.
“Bt cotton has revolutionised the cotton industry. It is more pest resistant and hence, has high productivity,” says Rajendra Prasad, Special Officer (Seeds), University of Agricultural Sciences “The pink boll worm hampers cotton productivity the most in the country. We are also researching to identify promising alternative crops to cotton and also other hybrid varieties resistant to the worm, which Bt cotton has succeeded in.”
We have appealed to the government to abolish corporatisation of seeds through amending the seed law of India which is popularly known as Seed Bill 2004. No new cotton variety has been developed by our agriculture universities over the past decade. The Seed Bill shifts the control of seeds to the Multi-national seed companies which sell costly genetically modified seeds and the farmers will be forced to buy these every season, states the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (Karnataka State Farmers Association) website.
“I know for a fact that the Karnataka government backs sale of genetically modified cotton. When no new variety of cotton is produced, what do the farmers do? They cultivate Bt cotton. Our government as well as researchers support Bt cotton,” said Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, President of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha.
“The usage of pesticide and most importantly insecticide in cotton farms, has risen in the recent past inspite of the rapid spread of Bt Cotton growth in the state,” says IAT member Satish Chandra.
As for the Boll worm pest is considered, Chandra has an interesting point to make.
“There is not just one pest which feeds on cotton. New pests like Mirid bug feed even on Bt cotton and the farmers are already facing trouble because of it. First it makes your soil infertile, and now there are new varieties of pests too.” Chandra added.
There is global resistance to growth of Bt cotton in India and some farmers still want to cultivate the indigenous variety.
The percentage coverage under irrigation in total cotton area in Karnataka has decreased again after a steep rise seen in the year 2005-06 shows a survey done with the 100 early adopters of Bt cotton supplemented by 50 non-adopters in Karnataka by the University of Hannover in 2008.
90% of the early adopters had stopped growing Bt cotton, while continuing to cultivate indigenous cotton. They stated lack of irrigation facilities in most places in Karnataka an important factor for doing so. The other reason given by the farmers is a lack of economic attractiveness. A number of farmers also stated that Bt is not used as it reduces soil health, is not suited for the prevailing soil conditions, among others, as per this study.
(The percentage coverage under irrigation in total cotton area in Karnataka was 14.7% in 2005-06, 14% in 2007-08 and was 13.8% in 1999-2000)
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