Mobility paves Samsung’s silver path
The Korean giant’s early bet on mobile phones helped it hit the $10-bn mark in India, but in its 25th year it ...
With stagnant yields, rising cost of production and resistance in pink bollworm, India now can look back at the desi cotton varieties, experts say.
At a webinar on ‘Bt cotton – Myths and Reality’ held on Monday, Keshav Kranthi, who is currently with International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), said Bt-hybrid technology has not been providing any tangible benefits to the cotton farmers.
Bt cotton supposedly helped in the reduction of insecticide use. But the use of insecticides only went up as pink bollworm developed resistance to the technology.
“Cotton yields are the lowest in the world in Maharashtra, for example, despite being saturated with Bt hybrids and highest usage of fertilisers,” Kranti said.
“Cotton yields rank 36th in the world and have been stagnant in the past 15 years. Insecticide usage has been constantly increasing after 2005 despite an increase in area under Bt-cotton,” he said.
The webinar was organised by the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture. Peter Kenmore, former FAO Representative in India, said that Bt cotton is an ageing pest control technology.
“It follows the same path worn down by generations of insecticide molecules. Corporate and public policy actors then claim yield increases, but deliver no more than temporary pest suppression, secondary pest release and pest resistance,” he said.
Andrew Paul Gutierrez, a cotton systems ecologists, pointed out that India could have easily learnt from the mistakes that happened in California in the 1960s and 70s, where the pest outbreak was mainly insecticide-induced.
“The long season Bt cotton introduced in India was incorporated into hybrids that trapped farmers into biotech and insecticide treadmills,” he said.
The Korean giant’s early bet on mobile phones helped it hit the $10-bn mark in India, but in its 25th year it ...
Antrix should adopt a different tactic than merely fighting over jurisdiction: Experts
Invest in relationships, enterprise, behaviour, effort and learning
From different types of osmoses to new membranes, researchers have come up with ways of drawing water
High valuation and stiff competition from larger players are a dampener
Investors with a short-term perspective can buy The New India Assurance Company (NIACL) stock at current ...
₹1490 • HDFC Bank S1S2R1R2COMMENT 1475146015051520 Fresh short positions are recommended with a stiff ...
Will a stock continue its current trend or will it reverse? We tell you how you can read chart patterns to ...
What makes the new crop of young Indian cricketers such game-changing winners? Over and above their talent, ...
In these isolated times when people yearn for a slice of the familiar, amateur and professional chefs are ...
‘You ready to go to work?’ Joe Biden had asked Kamala Harris before naming her as his running mate. ‘Oh my ...
Writer Narendra’s latest book, rich with vignettes from Bastar and his native village in Uttar Pradesh, ...
Digital is becoming dominant media, but are companies and their ad agencies transforming fast enough to make a ...
Slow Network, promoted by journalist-lyricist Neelesh Misra, pushes rural products and experiences
How marketers can use the traditional exchange of festive wishes meaningfully
For Fortune, a brand celebrating its 20th anniversary, it was a rude shock to become the butt of social media ...
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...
Please Email the Editor