In 2015 cotton farmers used an average 1.20kg of insecticides per hectare, up from 0.5 in 2006, when BT cotton seeds were at the pinnacle of their productivity. Some experts were optimistic the indigenous cotton seeds developed by the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), which comes under the farm ministry, would catch on over time. “The only other option we had this year was to plant the BT cotton again or leave the land fallow. Seed sales slideMonsanto’s Bt cotton sales in India have fallen 15% so far in 2016, said Kalyan Goswami, executive director of the National Seed Association of India. By then most farmers will give up Bt cotton and go for the indigenous variety,” said Keshav Raj Kranthi, head of CICR.

Source: Mint August 03, 2016 03:59 UTC