Economists’ Report Card On Bt Cotton

: The commercial sowing of legally approved Bt cotton seeds for one complete season in India is over. The harvesting of cotton in the country has almost come to a close. This is the time to assess the impact of largescale sowing of Bt cotton in the country.

Reports have already come in citing some success stories of Bt cotton cultivation at some places. There are reports of cases where Bt cotton has not fared well in terms of the expected yield and returns to the farmers due to high cost of seeds and more application of fertilisers and water. Some reports say that the seeds ‘illegally’ distributed by Navbharat have given more promising results in terms of yield and more returns than the legally approved seeds of Mahyco.

In this context, Dr Sudarshan Iyengar, director of Gujarat Institute of Development Research (GIDR), Ahmedabad and Dr N Lalitha, assistant professor of GIDR wrote in the current edition of the prestigious ‘Indian Journal of Agricultural Economic’ published by the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, Mumbai castigating the regulatory authority in the country for unnecessarily rushing the approval of Mech 12, Mech 162 and Mech 184 Bt cotton hybrid seeds developed by Mahyco in collaboration with Monsanto.

The experts duo also clarified “the purpose of this paper is not to suggest that we should shun this technology, but to tread cautiously especially in the context of lack of transparency, co-ordination and monitoring by the certifying authorities in adapting a new technology like the transgenic seeds, which has definite implication for India. In future, if it is possible that since the Bt cotton seeds have the government certification to go for commercialisation, there could be a tremendous demand, which could pave for hike in prices and adulterated seeds. There should be an undertaking by the company for eventual compensation of the farmers if the seeds fail. A very strong institution mechanism should be built to prevent the sale of ‘truthful’ and adulterated varieties of Bt seeds.”

Dr Iyengar and Dr Lalitha questioned “when a country like the US had taken more than 10 years to conduct the trials and subsequent commercialisation, it is unclear why the Indian government is in a hurry to release the transgenic crop. Where developed countries like the US, Australia and even China have so far not allowed the transgenic products to enter the food chain, India has taken a very bold decision to...