Poor productivity

Cotton farmers need genetically modified seeds

India’s cotton revolution, triggered by the introduction of transgenic Bt-cotton in 2002, seems to have fizzled out. Not only has production been stagnating at 34-36 million bales (one bale is 170 kg) for the past several years, the crop yields, too, have stopped growing. Average productivity is only around 500 kg a hectare, which compares poorly with the global average of over 800 kg. Worse still, while India leads the world in cotton acreage, it ranks 38th in productivity. The cause for this worrisome downturn is not elusive, though not enough is being done to redress it. While the old Bt-cotton hybrids, responsible for lifting output, have become outmoded, the new ones to replace them are not forthcoming. The ill-advised moratorium on testing genetically modified (GM) crops, imposed by the United Progressive Alliance government in 2010, is thwarting the development of new Bt-cotton seeds to suit the present agro-ecological conditions.

The highly vocal anti-GM lobby, and dissent from some outfits of the government’s ideologue, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, and the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), are also impeding progress on this front. No doubt, the government has, of late, shown some resolve to defy these pressure groups, as indicated by the approval for the environmental release of the genetically engineered Dhara Mustard-11 in October last year, but whether it would be able to do the same thing in the case of new variants of Bt-cotton is still unclear. The response to the couple of new Bt-cotton strains, brought before the biotechnology regulator, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), for clearance, does not hold out much hope on this count.

The specific cases in point are the BG-2 RRF, a second-generation variant of the Bt-cotton seed, developed by well-known seed company Mahyco, and the Bt-cotton strain containing the pink bollworm-resistant Cry2Ai gene, developed by Hyderabad-based Bioseed Research India. While in the first case, the GEAC has sought to delay the permission by seeking additional data, in the latter case, state governments are putting up hurdles in the field-testing of the new seeds. Three states —Maharashtra, Telangana, and Gujarat — have not even allowed field trials of the new seeds. Haryana, the only state that has agreed to permit testing, is under pressure from ginger groups, including the BKS, to retract its move.

This, obviously, does not augur well for the future of the country’s economically vital cotton sector, which supports the livelihood of 45-50 million people, including 6 million cotton farmers. True, some increase in crop yields is possible through agronomic means, such as expansion in plant density and improvement in input-use efficiency, but these cannot save the crops from diseases and pests, which are turning more virulent. None of the present Bt-cotton hybrids is capable of withstanding the onslaught of pink bollworm, which has become the major nemesis of this crop now. Farmers have little option but to spray pesticides repeatedly, with grave environmental implications. It would, therefore, be prudent for the government, as also the biotechnology regulator, to effectively counter the disinformation being spread by some anti-GM activists about the gene-altered crops. The state governments, too, need to appreciate the merits of modern technology and facilitate the advent of new strains to sustain the cotton revolution.