Favourable weather during sowing and widespread use of bacillus thuringiensis (BT) cotton seeds has raised the per hectare yield of the crop in Punjab?s Malwa region manifold for the last few years, but massive labour shortage is preventing the farmers from reaping the benefits of higher yields.
FE met up with several farmers in the Bhatinda and Mansa districts in Punjab who have extensively taken up planting of Bollgard BT cotton. Rajinder Singh, 51, from Gagrana village, Mansa district, has cultivated BT cotton on his three-acre plot.
He has seen the yields increasing from 10 – 11 quintals per acre in 2006 to 14 quintals per acre last year. ?We hope for a better yield this year, but the labour costs have gone up significantly and this is impacting our earnings,? Singh said.
He is not happy with the fact that farmers have not been getting the promised minimum support price (MSP) for cotton and are forced to sell their produce to private traders at prices lower than the market rate. However, Rajinder Singh expects the higher yield to aid his cause to a large extent.
Gurtej Singh, 29, Gagrana village, Bhatinda district, has cultivated Bollgard – II cotton over 16 acre and Bollgard – I on 4 acre. He has seen the yields increasing significantly from only 6 quintals per acre from conventional seeds, to around 14 quintals per acre last year. He, like many other farmers, is expecting a better yield this year despite the increase in the labour cost. ?The picking of cotton is labour-intensive and I have to pay Rs 300-350 for every quintal picked,? Singh said. Besides, the farmers are happy that unlike last year?s attack of the mealy bug, which usually sucks out sap from the plant – there has not been any attack this year.
Due to fear, a large number of farmer from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have provided lesser area for cotton. Estimates suggest that around 20% or three lakh hectare have been put under for cotton cultivation in northern India.
Bollgard Bt cotton, a single gene technology, is the first biotech crop technology approved for commercialisation in the country since 2002, followed by Bollgard-II double gene technology in mid-2006.
With the introduction of Bt cottonseeds, a genetically modified variety developed by US biotechnology company Monsanto, the country has witnessed a bumper crop production since 2004 after a decade of low productivity.
According to estimates, during 2008-09, the cotton production is expected to be 33 million bales (one bale is equal to Rs170 kg) and the cotton yield has increased from 300 kg per hectare five years ago to 560 kg last year.