The Hindu : Karnataka News : India tops in area under Bt cotton

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Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008
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Karnataka

India tops in area under Bt cotton

Special Correspondent

6.2 million hectares of land under cultivation: report

BANGALORE: India had the largest area in the world under Bt cotton in 2007 with the crop planted on 6.2 million hectares of land. The country is the fifth largest grower of genetically modified (GM) crops by area.

According to worldwide data compiled by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) in 2007, the area under Bt cotton in the country increased from 3.8 million hectares in 2006 to 6.2 million hectares in 2007, an increase of 63 percentage points.

This is the third consecutive year that India has had the largest year-on-year percentage growth among Bt cotton-growing countries in the world. Bt cotton was planted on four million hectares in the U.S. and 3.8 million hectares in China in 2007.

A 144-page report, “Global Status of Commercialised Biotech/GM Crops 2007” authored by Clive James, Chairperson, ISAAA Board of Directors, said that in 2006-07 India overtook the U.S. to become the second largest cotton producing country in the world, after China. Of the estimated 9.4 million hectares under cotton in India in 2007, Bt cotton covered 66 per cent or 6.2 million hectares, a remarkably high growth in just six years. Estimated production of cotton in 2007-08 was 31 million bales against 28 million bales in 2006-07.

C.K. Kameshwara Rao, executive secretary, Foundation for Biotechnology Awareness and Education, and T.M. Manjunath, consultant, agri-biotechnology, who explained the features of the report on Monday, said of the 6.2 million hectares under hybrid Bt cotton, 35 per cent was irrigated land and 65 per cent rain-fed.

Officially approved Bt cotton hybrids were planted for the first time in 2002 in the country.

Maharashtra topped in the area under Bt cotton (2.8 million hectares), followed by Andhra Pradesh (1.19 million), Gujarat (0.81 million), Madhya Pradesh (0.50 million) North Zone (Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan) (0.59 million), Karnataka (0.14 million), and Tamil Nadu (0.07 million).

In 2007, the U.S. (57.7 million hectares), Argentina (19.1 million hectares), Brazil (15 million hectares), Canada (7 million hectares), India (6.2 million hectares) and China (3 million hectares) were the principal adopters of GM crops globally.

While the U.S. continued to be the largest user of the technology, its GM crop area represented a declining share of the global area because of a more widespread adoption.

In the U.S., the planting of cotton declined from six million hectares in 2006 to 4.4 million hectares in 2007, the lowest since 1989.

The major reasons for the sharp decline in area are lower international prices and higher price for maize that led to growers to switch.

Studies in India and China showed Bt cotton had increased yields by up to 50 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, and reduced insecticide use in both countries by 50 per cent or more. In India, growers increased income to $250 or more a hectare, increasing farmer incomes nationally from $840 million to $1.7 billion last year.

A study of 9,300 Bt cotton and non-Bt cotton-growing households in India indicated that women and children in Bt cotton households have slightly more access to social benefits than non-Bt cotton growers. These included slight increases in pre-natal visits, assistance with at-home births, higher school enrolment for children and a higher proportion of children vaccinated.

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