Shetkari Sanghatana (SS), the apex farmers’ body in Maharashtra, has claimed that 50 per cent of cotton sown in the State in the coming kharif season will be herbicide-tolerant Bt (HTBT) cotton, the cultivation of which is banned in India.
In 2020 kharif, about 42. 86 lakh hectare in Maharashtra was under cotton cultivation, that is 29 per cent of the total land under kharif cultivation in the State; .25-35 per cent of the cotton fields in the State have reportedly been put under HTBT cultivation in the last few seasons.
Cotton growers may face seed shortage as they prepare to expand acreage
“The movement for HTBT cotton that started in 2019 has gained momentum and now farmers are cultivating more and more HTBT cotton. This kharif, 50 per cent cotton grown in the State will be HTBT. Now, we don’t have to launch a programme or movement to encourage farmers to grow HTBT. Farmers themselves are now inclined towards HTBT,” said Anil Ghanwat, president of SS, told BusinessLine. Since 2019, SS is supporting and encouraging farmers to defy the ban on GM crops and cultivate HTBT cotton.
Bt cotton is the only genetically modified (GM) crop that has been approved for commercial cultivation by the Government of India. The carrying, storing, selling or sowing of banned GM crops is an offence that invites a ₹1-lakh fine and five years’ imprisonment.
“We will continue to sow HTBT. Let government arrest us, but we will continue to use HTBT seeds. These seeds are easily available in the market and farmers are already using these seeds. The government must not stop farmers from using advanced seeds and technology,” said Ghanwat.
Farmers say the cultivation cost reduces drastically with HTBT seeds as they can spray herbicides to eliminate weeds without damage to cotton crop and save labour cost required to pull out weeds that reduce the yield.
The HT Bt mess needs to be cleaned up swiftly
Illegal seed business
The Seed Industries Association of Maharashtra (SIAM), in its director body meeting recently, expressed concern about the illegal HTBT trade. “The seed industry is suffering because of the illegal trade of HTBT. We strongly oppose any move to encourage farmers to cultivate banned variety and appeal to the government to act in the matter,” said SB Wankhede, Executive Director of SIAM.
However, SIAM has demanded that the government not stop GM crop trials. “We cannot decide the positive or negative impact of GM seeds unless trials are conducted” Wankhede told BusinessLine.
The seed industry claims that “motivated agents” are duping farmers and trying to sabotage the legal cotton seed business. The illegal seed trade has dented the cotton seed business by 10-15 per cent incurring an annual loss of ₹200-400 crore, according to industry players.
Earlier cases of the sale of illegal HTBT cotton seeds have been reported in the districts of Nagpur, Chandrapur, Parbhani, Nandurbar, Yavatmal, Bhandara and Gadchiroli of Maharashtra.
Government’s stand
Even as farmers and the seed industry demand that field trials of GM crops must be started, the Central government has asked the States to take a call. Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar recently told Rajya Sabha that it has been decided that proposals for field trials of GM crops, including Bt brinjal, will not be taken up for consideration by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) without the recommendation of the concerned State/UT government. However, the State government officials said that they were still waiting for further directions from the Centre.