New BT variety may push short staple cotton output

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.