New Delhi (PTI): Indian cotton farmers have earned more income per hectare than their US counterparts, thanks to the adoption of genetically modified technology developed by companies like Monsanto, says a UK-based agri-economist.

"Farmers in developing countries like India are having better farm income benefits compared to the US, Australia and Argentina," agri-economist Graham Brookes told PTI.

After paying for GM technology, cotton farmers in India have earned an additional average income of 225 dollars (Rs 9,956) per hectare between 2002 and 2006 against 94 dollars per hectare in the US and 133 dollars per hectare in Argentina, he said.

However, the earnings of Indian cotton farmers are lower than that of Chinese farmers, whose income per hectare is about 294 dollars, Brookes, who is the director of PG Economics, which provides advisory and consultancy services on plant bio-technology and agricultural markets and policy in the UK, noted.

"India has made tremendous growth in GM cotton. Farmers have earned total 1,294 million dollars additional income since the launch of the GM cotton in 2002," he said.

GM cotton was developed and commercially launched in India by Mahyco-Monsanto and it is currently grown in over 75 per cent of the total cotton area.

"Looking at the speed of adoption in India, the average income benefits in the coming years would be more than two billion dollars," he said.

Quoting his study on GM crops, he said a larger share of income benefits have been earned by farmers in the developing countries like India.

"Cumulatively over the period 1996 to 2006, developing country farmers have acquired 49 per cent of total 34 billion dollars farm income benefit," he said.