Central govt to fix Bt cotton seed price by April 1

Committee to decide on uniform national price, says will keep farmers' interest paramount

The central government will take a considerate view on fixing the maximum sale price (MSP) of genetically modified (Bt) cotton seed, keeping the interest of farmers paramount, a senior official said.

He said the government had heard arguments by the National Seeds Association of India (NSAI) and from Mahyco Monsanto Biotech and other Bt licensors. It will now decide on a uniform national maximum price before April 1.

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“There might be more meetings of the high-powered committee but this is not confirmed,” he said. It was constituted by the Centre to operationalise its price control order of December 2015.

The official said the panel would consider all the ingredients that go into fixing a uniform nationwide price. “We can assure you that we will fix a price which is in the best interest of the farmers."

Secretaries to the government of Maharashtra and Telangana, with representatives from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, are among the other members of the panel. Earlier, the price of cotton seeds, including Bt cotton, was fixed by state governments.

Officials said NSAI wanted a price rational enough to enable seed companies to continue investing in research and development. And, a control over the ‘trait fees’ (royalty fees) charged by research companies.  

Sources said seed companies wanted an annual increase of five to six per cent in the maximum retail price of seeds, beside lowering of the trait fees. “Before 2003, trait fees were agreed between the seed makers and research companies but things started going bad for us when the state intervened in fixing the retail price of seeds in the interest of farmers, while the trait fees did not go down, due to which our margins started getting squeezed,” a senior official from a leading domestic seed company said.

Eleven 11 companies which have invested in development of Bt cotton seed — including Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer and Syngenta — have said the government should also pay heed to their views. "We request the government...to take into account the views of various responsible and large members of the seed industry like us who have invested in long-term IP (intellectual property) creation in several crops that will benefit the Indian farmer with better quality varieties," went their letter to the agriculture ministry, news agency PTI reported.

At present, a 450g packet of Bt cotton seed in Maharashtra costs Rs 830. It is priced at Rs 930 in Telengana and Rs 1,000 in north Indian states.

Some time earlier, the Competition Commission of India ordered a probe against MMBL for alleged monopoly in the business of Bt cotton in India.

Cotton production is estimated to decline to 30.7 million bales of 170 kg each in the 2015-16 crop year (July-June), as against 34.8 mn bales the previous year.