The Hindu Business Line : Pesticides main expense for cotton farmers despite Bt tech

New Delhi, Aug 29 Pesticides continue to be the No.1 expenditure item for cotton farmers even after the advent of Bt gene technology into the country.

The comprehensive field-level study of cotton growers in Guntur and Warangal, conducted by the Agro-Economic Research Centre (AERC) of Andhra University during the 2004-05 season, shows that Bt farmers are having to spray pesticides lesser number of times than those cultivating non-Bt varieties/hybrids.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Guntur — the country’s largest pesticide consuming district – where the average number of sprays have dropped from 11.38 to 4.67.

However, the reduction in the number of sprays has been accompanied by an increased quantity of pesticides being injected in each round. As a result, the total quantum sprayed per hectare has not fallen all that sharply and the farmers continue to spend the maximum on pesticides than on any other input (see Table).

While this could reflect a hangover of past cultivation practices or an inability among farmers to fully imbibe the new technology, it is clear, however, that there is still some way to go for Bt cotton to be accepted as an environment-friendly alternative. But on parameters such as yield, there is no disputing the superiority of Bt.

The AERC study has also shown that Bt cotton has been much more effective against bollworm pest attacks. While 30 to 62 per cent of Bt cotton farmers reported “zero” incidence of bollworm (30 for American, 38 for Pink and 62 for Spotted bollworm), the corresponding figures ranged between 18 and 22 per cent for non-Bt farmers (22 for American, 18 for Pink and 19 for Spotted bollworm. Further, the proportion of Bt farmers reporting “light” attacks ranged between 31 and 46 per cent, while being 14 to 34 per cent in the case of non-Bt farmers.

The lower damage caused by pests has not only meant higher yields, but also translated into better quality and colour of the bolls. Eighty-five per cent of the sample farmers felt that Bt cotton enjoyed an “advantage” in quality over non-Bt cotton, with another four per cent even qualifying this as “strong advantage”. Similarly, Bt cotton also scored unequivocally more on staple length and fibre colour.

More Stories on : Cotton | Pesticides | Bio-tech & Genetics

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