Spurious Bt cotton seeds have become a major concern for companies like Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Ltd and Gujarat has taken a lead in manufacturing illegal seeds, which causes lower yield and financial losses to cotton growers. “There are hardly other states in the country which manufacture illegal seeds. Last year, 5 million packets of Bt cotton seeds weighing 450 grams were manufactured in the state. In fact, Gujarat is the only state in India to manufacture illegal Bt cotton seeds on such a large scale,” said Christopher Samuel, senior manager (public affairs) Monsanto India.

Mansa, Mehsana, Himmatnagar in North Gujarat, Botad and Gadhada are some of areas notorious for manufacturing spurious seeds in Gujarat. Industry players also say that Mansa is the biggest hub for spurious seeds. Farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan come to Mansa to purchase Bt cotton seeds. Interestingly, it is common to spot Bt cotton promotional hoardings written in Punjabi language in Mansa.

The quality control department of Gujarat had in March last year raided many premises engaged in the manufacturing of spurious seeds, he added. In 2007, total area under illegal Bt cotton seed production stood at 3 million acres, of which Gujarat constituted 1.58 million acres, followed by Punjab, Maharashtra and Haryana with 0.42 million, 0.29 million and 0.24 million acres, respectively. Of the total 21.42 million acres under cotton crop cultivation in 2007, Bollgard Bt cotton seeds were grown on 14 million acres and 3.5 million acres witnessed sowing of conventional varieties of cotton.

“Illegal seeds are those which are not approved by Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) and other regulatory bodies. Currently, GEAC has approved 60 hybrids for cultivation in India,” Christopher explained.

Alarmed by the situation, Mahyco Monsanto and the government has started taking steps to caution the farmers about the ill-effects of spurious Bt seeds. Mahyco Monsanto Biotech, a 50:50 joint venture of Monsanto, USA, and Mahyco, have launched anti-illegal seeds awareness campaign to educate farmers. So far, the company has conducted 700 meetings for the purpose and 76,000 farmers in Gujarat have promised to purchase seeds only with pucca bills from the retailers, he added.

The government has also conducted raids and educational efforts to highlight the risk of illegal seeds. As result, the cultivation of spurious seeds has begun to come down. In Gujarat, area under illegal seeds cultivation came down to 1.58 million acreas in 2007 from 2.17 million acres in 2006. Nationally, it has declined from 4.33 million acres in 2006 to 3 million acres in 2007.