Bt cotton , as GM cotton is known, is the only commercialised GM crop in the country. Maharashtra's neighbour Gujarat grows more cotton than any other state.According to a study by the International Food Policy Research Institute, the adoption of Bt cotton was low till 2005. High yields can be obtained under organic systems with only such varieties.Besides the problem of pink bollworms, cotton is also plagued by use of illegal herbicide-tolerant Bt cotton seeds. After the Centre capped the prices of Bt cotton seeds in 2016, Monsanto withdrew its application for sale of a herbicide-tolerant Bt cotton seed.Farmers used to Bt cotton may not really think of an alternative immediately and may consider the pink bollworm problem this season an anomaly. But given that Bt cotton is certainly not cheap — each acre requires two packets of BG-II, costing Rs 1,600, and another Rs 12,000-13,000 on fertilisers and pesticides -those affected may not take the viability of Bt cotton for granted anymore.

Source: Economic Times January 20, 2018 18:00 UTC