If every thing falls in place, farmers will have the option of sowing a new variety of short staple BT cotton, which has seen a decline in production in recent years.

Nagpur-based Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), a part of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, is in the process of developing the variety, which would, perhaps, be the first such variety in the world.

The advent of BT cotton in India has seen an increasing number of farmers turning to it for better returns.

This has led to a drop in the production of short and long staple cotton. Lower production has fuelled the prices of short staple cotton by 20 per cent. Prices currently stand at Rs 17,000 to Rs 18,000 a candy. They stood at Rs 14,000 a candy last year.

CICR has selected the RG-8 variety to be converted into a BT variety. The variety will have fibre length of 18 mm. Cotton with fibre length less than 20 mm is termed as the short staple variety.

Medium staple, long and extra long staple cotton have fiber length of 25 to 30 mm, 30 to 37 mm, and 37 mm and above, respectively.

The institute is currently carrying out multi-location field trials. “However, the new variety will have to get the Review Committee on Genetically Modified Organisms’ (RCGMO) approval for large-scale field trials. It will take atleast two years for commercial release of the variety,” said B M Khadi, director, CICR.

The variety will also have to go through a bio-safety test before release. In fact, CICR wants to develop BT varieties for all categories. The institute is ready with the Bikaneri Narma variety, a medium staple variety, and has received RCGMO’s approval for large-scale field trials.

“The institute is also looking at undertaking field trials of its long staple BT cotton variety,” he added. Unlike existing BT seeds in the market, farmers will be able to use seeds recovered from existing crop for next season.

The development assumes importance in the wake of declining production of short staple cotton not only in India but across the globe.

“BT cotton seeds are known to have better output. Availability of BT short staple would lead to rise in short staple production in the country,” said D K Nair, secretary general, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).

Currently, out of the total cotton output of over 31.6 million bales in the country, 70 per cent is medium staple cotton, thanks to the availability of the BT cotton variety.

Kalyan V-797, J-34, F-414 and Bengal Deshi, which are mainly rainfed crops, fall under the short staple variety.

Increased preference for BT cotton, which falls under the medium staple category, had led to decline in the production of short staple cotton. Short staple cotton production in India hovered around 8 million bales in 2006-07, which dipped 50 per cent in 2007-08.

“The fall is expected to continue. All over the world, production of short staple has been declining. America, Russia and Uzbekistan are one of the major short staple growing countries in the world,” said Arun Dalal of Arun Dalal and Co.