• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Hyderabad , Dec. 28

Yaaganti Seeds Pvt Ltd has tied up with the Gujarat-based Vikram Seeds Ltd to market the latter's Bt cotton variety in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka from the 2007 season.

Announcing the agreement on Thursday, Mr Babubhai Patel, Managing Director, Vikram Seeds said the company will provide Vikram 5 Bt variety to Yaaganti Seeds, which in turn will market it at around Rs 750 per packet.

Vikram Seeds has introduced Monsanto's Bt technology in its cotton hybrids — Vikram 5 and Vikram 9. Both hybrids have got approval from the inter-ministerial Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) for sale in 2005, he told newspersons.

Vikram Seeds, which is engaged in research, production and marketing of mainly cottonseeds, hopes to reach a turnover of Rs 100 crore, with cotton accounting for Rs 85 crore during 2006-07. It had a turnover of Rs 10 crore the previous fiscal.The quantum jump is expected to come from the increased acreage — 2,000 acres — with a potential of producing 10 lakh packets of seeds, he said.

Through the tie-up with Yaaganti Seeds, the company hopes to market one lakh packets (90,000 in AP and the rest in Karnataka) during the 2007 cotton season.

In Gujarat, the area under cotton is 19 lakh ha, while AP accounts for 10 lakh ha of the country's total 90 lakh ha under cotton.

During 2007, the industry estimates sales of more than 120 lakh packets of Bt cotton in India valued at Rs 900 crore, at Rs 750 per packet, against a total requirement of 200 lakh packets.

Mr Patel said this year also "we hope the price of Bt cotton would remain Rs 750 per packet like last year". Negotiations are reportedly on between Monsanto, seed companies and cotton growing states.

Mr Y. Venkateswarulu, Managing Director of Yaaganti Seeds, a research-based hybrid seeds company focused mainly on maize and sunflower seeds, said, "Our extensive marketing network in AP and Karnataka would be used to reach the Vikram 5 variety, which was trial tested with farmers in Karimnagar, Warangal, Guntur, Adilabad and Khammam with good results."

He said AP had a demand for 25 lakh packets of Bt cotton. Yaaganti Seeds has set a target of one lakh seed packets for 2007 and 3 lakh in 2008 through the arrangement with Vikram Seeds. The Vikram 5 variety has gone through regulatory trials in AP, he said.

In maize and sunflower, the company did 3000 tonnes and 200 tonnes respectively, with a turnover of Rs 12.5 crore last year. Fir YSPL, the tie-up is a diversification into cotton seeds at present, he added.

More Stories on : Seeds | Alliances & Joint Ventures | Cotton | Bio-tech & Genetics

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Northeast monsoon draws to a close

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line