Punjab cotton farmers happy with Bt debut

Maiden transgenic cotton growers in Malwa region are happy with the progress of planting, while they are anxiously waiting to see how rains shape up in the next two weeks, which is vital for successful harvesting in October.

"We have sown Bt cotton for the first time in our fields. The crop is maturing well due to favourable weather condition, but we are now waiting to see how the monsoon shapes up in the next two weeks," said farmer Jarnail Singh of Behman Diwana, a traditionally paddy growing village 12 km from here, who has sown the transgenic cotton variety over 7.5 acre.

He also said sowing of Bt in place of coventional paddy had reduced his cost of cultivation due to reduction in water charges and cut down in the number of sprays for insecticides.

Bt variety also ensured 70-80 per cent reduction in the use of pesticides, said Joginder Singh, advisor of Rasi Seeds, one of the three seed companies holding the marketing rights for transgenic cotton for the northern region.

"The use of Bt cotton has reduced cost on water charges, as we now need to provide water only two-three times to the 150-day cotton crop as compared to as high as 20 times for usual paddy cultivation," said another farmer Charanjit Singh, who has also planted Bt cotton in a three-acre firm.

Usually, Bt cotton acreage per acre yields was 40 per cent more than output from a non-Bt cotton field, said the seed expert.

Malwa region, main cotton growing belt in Punjab, expects to produce a record 22 lakh tonne cotton this year though only 16 per cent of 35.5 lakh hectare is under the transgenic cotton variety.

"As this year to be the first year for Bt cotton acreage, we don't want to predict the output size," said an expert. However, traders put overall cotton production prospects at a record level at 22 lakh tonne for this year.

Let farmers decide which variety to choose "" Bt or non-Bt - on the basis of performance at the fields, said Digonto Boarh, a field extension worker of Monsanto India.

Nearly 1.2 lakh Bt cotton seeds were sold in Punjab, and another 40,000 tonne in two other northern states Rajasthan and Haryana; all the three states were granted to grow the Bt cotton variety during April this year.

"We brought nearly 3.1 lakh cotton seeds for the northern region, of which 1.5 lakh tonne could not be sold," he said, attributing this unsold quantum to the sale of low-cost spurious cotton seeds.

This year being the first year under Bt cotton, we wanted the farmers to see for themseleves the performance of Bollgard variety at the fields, Borah said.

"This year's seeds quantum would definitely be at least double next year," he added.