The entire area under cotton for the current kharif season is likely to have Bt cotton.
Cotton sowing is in brisk pace in major growing areas of Karnataka thanks to more than normal monsoon rain across the state. The arrival of southwest monsoon well on time and higher prices have encouraged farmers to begin early sowing for cotton.
According to information available with the state agriculture department, sowing for cotton has been completed in about 68,000 hectares, an increase of 11 per cent over the corresponding period last year and 16.5 per cent of the total target for the current year. The department has set a target of 412,000 hectares under cotton for the current kharif season.
However, going by the current indications, the state is set to see a record area expansion under cotton and the department expects anywhere between 10-20 per cent increase in the area to touch nearly 500,000 hectares.
Incidentally, the entire cotton cultivating area for the kharif season has been converted to Bt cotton in the state. This is mainly due to better prices farmers got for Bt cotton last year. The prices for long staple cotton (DCH-32) touched Rs 8,500 a quintal for the 2010-11 season. Prices of medium staple Bt cotton are ruling at Rs 4,500-7,500 a quintal.
Only during the rabi season, some of the districts in north Karnataka grow non-Bt variety (Jayadhar cotton), government officials said.
Encouraged by the record production of cotton last year, the agriculture department has set a target of achieving 10-20 per cent growth in the current year. During 2010-11, the state produced 929,000 bales of cotton, a growth of 23 per cent over the previous year. The increase in area and yield contributed towards increase in production of cotton, they said.
The area under Bt cotton has grown remarkably over the last few years in Karnataka from 146,000 hectares in 2007 kharif season to 395,000 hectares in 2010. This year, the entire area in the state would be Bt cotton, the officials said.
“Despite misgivings about Bt cotton, many farmers are switching over to the hybrid variety in several parts of the state due to high profit and aggressive marketing by private companies. Many farmers in Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Haveri, Gulbarga, Raichur, Shimoga, Bagalkot, Dharwad and Belgaum districts have switched over to Bt cotton,” the officials said.
About 17 seed companies, including Mahyco, Rasi Seeds Ltd. Nuziveedu Seeds are encouraging farmers to go for Bt cotton cultivation. In the 2010 season, Bt cotton was grown on 9.4 million hectares in the country or 85.5 per cent of the total estimated 11 million hectares under cotton in India. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are major Bt cotton growing states in the country.
Following increase in the area under Bt cotton, seed companies sought increase in the price of seeds and the state government allowed firms to raise prices. However, shortage of seeds forced farmers to stage protests in Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts recently.
The price of Bt-II variety was increased from Rs 750 per packet of 450 gm to Rs 930 per packet. The rate of Bt-I variety was raised from Rs 650 per packet to Rs 830 for the new season. The shortage of DCH-32 seeds in places like Hubli-Dharwad has encouraged farmers to go for Bt cotton seeds this year, trade sources said.
