Bt cotton cultivation has achieved phenomenal success in transforming the cotton crop into the most productive and profitable crop in 10 years. Nearly 10 significant milestones have been achieved during the first decade (2002?2011) of Bt cotton cultivation in India, said a report on biotech crop done by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), a non-profit organisation with an international

network of centers designed to contribute to the alleviation of hunger and poverty by sharing knowledge

and crop biotechnology applications.

First and foremost, India planted the highest-ever hectarage of cotton, 12.1 million hectare in 2011-12, increasing from 7.7 million hectare

in 2002-03.

This significant increase in hectarage in cotton has been attributed, by and large, to Bt technology which has substantially increased the profitability of cotton production in the country. Notably, the number of Bt cotton farmers increased from 50,000 farmers in 2002-03 to 7 million in 2011-12, representing approximately 88% of 8 million cotton farmers in 2011-12 who planted and benefited significantly from Bt cotton hybrids.

Second, India planted more Bt cotton than any other country in the world. In the fifth year of Bt cotton adoption, 2006-07, India for the first time eclipsed China by cultivating 3.8 million hectare of Bt cotton, compared to China?s 3.5 million hectare. In 2011-12, the adoption of Bt cotton in India, for the first time soared past the 10 million hectare milestone, reaching 10.6 million hectares or 88%

of the 12.1 million hectare ? almost 3 times the Bt cotton area of China at 3.9 million hectares.

Third, India is the only country in the world where cotton hybrids, as opposed to varieties, are the principal commercial crop. The first commercial cotton hybrid, H-4 derived from an intra-specific cross (G. hirsutum x G. hirsutum) was released commercially in 1970. In 2011-12, 88% of the cotton area featured both intra-specific and inter-specific hybrids; this is almost double the 45% adoption level

in 2001-02.

The rapid increase in hectares of hybrid cotton is credited to the introduction of Bt technology which spurred hybridisation resulting in an increase from 3 Bt cotton hybrids in 2002-03

to 884 Bt cotton hybrids in 2011-12.

Fourth, consumption of insecticides, measured in active ingredient, has exhibited a consistent and significant downward trend since the introduction of Bt cotton in 2002-03. Notably, the large scale adoption of Bt cotton halved insecticide usage from 46% of total insecticides used in 2001-02 to 21% of total insecticide use in India in 2010.

Fifth, the commercial approval of Bt cotton was a cardinal breakthrough that revived the ailing cotton sector in the country. Prior to 2002 cotton production had stagnated, yields were declining and this resulted in over-reliance on cotton imports for many decades. Coincidental with the steep increase in adoption of Bt cotton between 2002 and 2011, the average yield of cotton in India increased from 308 kg per hectare in 2001-02, to 499 kg per hectare in 2011-12; and cotton production increased from 13.6 million bales in 2002-03 to 35.5 million bales in 2011-12, which was a record cotton crop for India. At the same time, the country was transformed from a net importer of raw cotton until 2002-03 to a net exporter of cotton.

Sixth, India was traditionally a producer of short, medium and medium-long staple cotton due to the prevalent large-scale cultivation of local cotton varieties. Thus, the country was deficient in long staple and extra-long staple cotton, which is the major raw material demanded by the cotton mills and the textile industry. The introduction of hybrid technology in the seventies and the deployment of Bt technology in 2002 improved cotton hybrids substantially, and changed the composition of total cotton production in favour of long staple cotton; in 1947 there was almost no long staple cotton, but this increased to 38% of supply in 2002-03 and to 77% in 2010-11. Furthermore, the volume of long staple cotton production registered a five-fold increase from 5.1 million bales in 2002-03 to 24.1 million bales in 2010-11.

Seventh, over the 10-year period 2002?2011, Bt cotton has been successfully used as a multiple-purpose crop, to deliver three principal products: firstly, in the form of edible oil as food for human consumption; secondly, de-oiled cake as an animal feed; and thirdly, kapas for fiber. Impressively, the production of cotton seed, and its by-products, oil and meal, has increased three-fold from 0.46 million tonne in 2002-03 to 1.31 million tonne in 2011-12.

As a result, Bt cotton meal (de-oiled cake) contributes one third of the country?s total and increasing demand for animal feed, whereas cotton oil also contributes 13.7% of total edible oil production for human consumption in the country.

Eighth, the introduction of Bt technology in cotton contributed immensely to the establishment of the vibrant hybrid cotton seed and agri-biotech industry in India. The high adoption rate of Bt cotton by Indian farmers contributed significantly to the steep year-on-year growth in commercial hybrid seeds and the biotech industry in the country from 2002 to 2011. Agri-biotech industry market increased twenty-two-fold from R110 crore ($25 million) in 2002-2003 to R2,480 crore ($551 million) in 2010-11.

Ninth, the large scale adoption of Bt cotton in India was a major contributor to the doubling of cotton production domestically and also contributed significantly to global cotton production from 2002-03 to 2011-12. In 2011, India contributed 10.6 million hectare of biotech cotton and a substantial 7% to the global total of biotech cotton hectarage of 160 million hectares. As a result, Indian cotton now accounts for more than one fifth (21%) of the total world cotton production in 2011-12; this is substantially higher than the 14% in 2002-03. As a result of the higher productivity of Bt cotton India overtook the US in 2006 to become the second largest cotton producing country in the world, after China.

Last but not the least, the annual global study of benefits generated by biotech crops, conducted by Brookes and Barfoot, estimated that India enhanced farm income from Bt cotton by $9.4 billion (or R42,300 crore) in the period 2002 to 2010 (nine-year period) and $2.5 billion in 2010 alone. Typically, yield gains are up to 31%, a significant 39% reduction in the number of insecticide sprays, leading to an 88% increase in profitability and equivalent to a substantial increase of approximately $250 per hectare.

Thus, Bt cotton has transformed cotton production in India by increasing yield anddecreasing insecticide applications.