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(From left) Mr M. Ramasami, Managing Director, Rasi Seeds Pvt. Ltd, Mr Bipin Solanki, Deputy Managing Director, Mahyco Monsanto Biotech India Ltd, and Mr Nikhil Rawal, Senior Vice-President & Executive Director, IMRB International, at a press conference in the Capital on Wednesday. — Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , April 6

MAHYCO Monsanto Biotech (India) Ltd (MMB) today claimed that `Bollgard' or Bt cotton had helped farmers in the country to earn an additional income of Rs 770 crore during 2004.

The claim was based on a study conducted by the market research firm, IMRB International. The study, commissioned by MMB itself, involved interviews with 3,199 farmers from 295 villages of 58 talukas and 20 districts of major cotton-growing States.

Of the 3,199 farmers, 644 from Madhya Pradesh, 640 belonged to Andhra Pradesh, 638 each from Maharashtra and Gujarat, 323 from Karnataka and 316 from Tamil Nadu.

According to the study, the average per acre spending on pesticides by farmers across the country worked out to only Rs 275 for Bt cotton against Rs 1,412 for non-Bt cotton, with the corresponding State-level figures being Rs 283 and Rs 2,370 for Andhra Pradesh, Rs 479 and Rs 1,261 for Karnataka, Rs 302 and Rs 1,060 for Tamil Nadu, Rs 320 and Rs 1,555 for Madhya Pradesh, Rs 155 and Rs 847 for Maharashtra and Rs 214 and Rs 997 for Gujarat.

The overall average savings in spending on pesticides came to about Rs 1,200 per acre, with the number of sprays coming down from 6.24 to 1.73 on account of farmers opting for Bt cotton.

The IMRB study also asserted that farmers were able to obtain an average yield of 8.02 quintals per acre by growing Bt cotton, as compared to 5.07 quintals from non-Bt cotton, with the corresponding figures amounting to 7.33 and 5.02 quintals in Andhra Pradesh, seven and 5.27 quintals in Karnataka, 7.91 and 6.25 quintals in Tamil Nadu, 9.26 and 6.53 quintals in Madhya Pradesh, 5.77 and 3.85 quintals in Maharashtra and 10.17 and 2.83 quintals in Gujarat. The average profit per acre from cultivating Bt cotton came to Rs 9,610 (after accounting for seed prices), whereas it was only Rs 3,660 for non-Bt hybrids.

The corresponding figures stood at Rs 5,649 and Rs 867 in Andhra Pradesh, Rs 6,109 and Rs 5,641 in Karnataka, Rs 10,356 and Rs 7,093 in Tamil Nadu, Rs 13,255 and Rs 6,985 in Madhya Pradesh, Rs 5,002 and Rs 1,605 in Maharashtra and Rs 16,072 and Rs 977 in Gujarat.

With the average per acre profit from Bt cotton being almost Rs 6,000 more than non-Bt cotton, the additional income to farmers on the 13 lakh acres area that was cultivated under Bt last year, thus, worked out to about Rs 780 crore. The reduction in pesticide spending by farmers was to the tune of Rs 130 crore.

The total area planted in the country under Bt cotton has risen from 72,000 acres in 2002 to 2.3 lakh acres in 2003 and 13 lakh acres in 2004. Of the13 lakh acres grown last year, nine lakh acres were under the Bt hybrids of the Jalna-based Maharashtra Hybrids Seeds Company Ltd (Mahyco) and four lakh acres under the Salem-based Rasi Seeds.

This year, the area under Bt cotton is expected to go up more than three-folds, with penetration among users (those cultivating hybrids) expected to rise from 18 per cent to 52 per cent.

Rasi Seeds alone expects to sell 12-15 lakh packets (one packet per acre) in the coming season, the company's Managing Director, Mr M. Ramasami, said.

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