Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Bt cotton demand rises by 30 per cent

HYDERABAD: Notwithstanding the controversies dogging it, Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech Limited is expecting 30 to 40 per cent growth in demand for its flagship Bt cotton (Bollgard I and II hybrids) this kharif.

Raj Ketkar, Joint Managing Director, MMBL told press persons here on Thursday that growth had been “phenomenal” during the last five years across nine cotton growing states. The acreage under Bt cotton rose from 72,000 acres in the first year (2002) to 8.7 million acres in 2006.

About 2.2 million farmers have planted Bollgard and Bollgard II hybrids across the nine cotton growing states, “showing increased acceptability”.

Referring to the sheep and goat mortality in Adilabad and Warangal, Mr. Ketkar and R. K. Sinha, Executive Director, All India Crop Biotechnology Association dismissed it as “localised phenomenon”. In its ten years of global Bt cotton experience, there has not been a single instance of harm to an animal that grazed on Bt plant material.

They admitted that there has been no major field study after the commercial release of the Bt cotton. Nor was there a plausible explanation on cause of recurring deaths.

They explained that tests were conducted including evaluation of bio-safety data and feeding studies before the Bt cotton was released for commercial cultivation afterapproval from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee.

Studies at the Centre for Animal Disease Research and Diagnosis, IVRI Rae Bareilly on goats and in laboratory rats fed with leftover Bt cotton indicated “no untoward clinical effects”.

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