Monitoring
of the Bt Cotton Fields in
Report
of
State
Agriculture Department
In
response to complaint raised by Mr. Pratapsinh Zhala, President, Agriculture Development Association,
Ahmedabad regarding cultivation of F2 (generation) Hybrid. Bt.
Cotton by the farmers on a large scale in
The said committee interviewed the
farmers at random who have undertaken the cultivation & visited some of the
fields. Besides this, the Committee
prepared questionnaire and had a discussion with the farmers, representatives
of Co-Operative Institution & Extension Officers (
Agriculture) and recorded the opinion thereof.
Summarizing the whole reports, the
following opinion could be established.
1.
The farmers who cultivated
the Hy. Cotton Bt. Mech-
184 complained for wilt in the cotton crop during Kharif 2002 & farmer
suffered at huge economic loss in the state. Committee came to the conclusion
that, the Large Scale Demonstration (LSD) were not conducted in the state prior
to granting the permission for sale of the Bt. Mech-
184 and that may be the probable reason for the failure of this variety at most
of the locations.
To
prevent such incidence following steps should be taken.
(a) The State Government is hereby requested to take up the matter to
Government of India to prevent the sales of the variety under question in the
state during Kharif 2003.
(b) Looking to this experience of cultivation of Bt. Cotton, it becomes
absolutely necessary for State Government to propose to Central government to
give sanction to only those varieties of transgenic seed whose large scale
demonstrations are conducted in the state and whose performance is found to be
satisfactory.
2.
According to survey Bt. Mech- 162 was also found to be vulnerable to Boll worm
menace which indicates that the expression of Bt. gene is insignificant and
hence the variety may not be acceptable to farmers.
3.
Bt. Mech-12 was found to
susceptible to sucking pest and hence the farmers may not prefer this variety.
However,
it was observed by the committee that in authorized and so called Bt. Cotton
variety Navbharat – 151 became highly popular among
the farming community of
the state after experiencing much better performance. Whether the said variety contain any Bt. gene
or not, the matter comes within the purview of GEAC Government of India.
Second Report of Technical
Committee conducting survey on various varieties of Hy. Bt. Cotton
during Kharif – 2002.
A
Technical Committee was constituted with the following objectives.
(i)
to
access the economic loss suffered by the farmers in the cultivation of Bt.
Cotton variety of MAHYCO.
(ii)
to
conduct study of F2 Bt Cotton in the State.
In
response to the direction given by the State Government, this Committee has
conducted a study, collected the information on the production & recorded
the experiences of the farmers who cultivated Bt. Cotton and submitted the
report as under:-
Information
on the production of Bt. Cotton variety in the different district of state is
submitted in Annexure A.
According
to study and grievances received from the farmers as well as press reports
appeared in the News Paper the committee is submitting the report as under:
(i)
On a large scale, Bt.
Mech-184 gets dried at ball formation stage due to susceptibility of this variety
towards wilt. The wilt had not been
reported in other non Bt. Cotton variety. The production of said variety was
ranging from 183 kg/ha (Minimum) to 2000 kg/ha ( Maximum). So farmers suffered a huge economic loss in
the cultivation of Bt. Cotton. This is mainly due to under taking direct
commercial cultivation without conducting Large Scale Demonstration as a pilot
project.
(ii)
Cotton Variety, Bt. Mech- 162 is reported to be less susceptible to wilt to
some extent and also to the pod borer complex.
The production of the said variety is recorded 1200 kg/ha (Minimum) and
2966 kg/ha (Maximum). This variety also
showed some susceptibility toward sucking pest and as such this variety may not
be acceptable to farmers.
(iii)
Cotton variety Bt. Mech 12 also showed susceptibility toward sucking pest and
to some extent towards Heliothis larval. Cultivation of the said variety was done on
small scale in the state.
During the survey, cultivation of this
variety was reported in two districts & the production recorded was 1700
kg/ha (minimum) to 2250 kg/ha (maximum).
Susceptibility of this variety toward sucking pest may lead to
non-preference by the farmers.
During the study, it was observed that the so
called Bt. variety Navbharat 151 received wide
popularity among farming community.
Majority of farmers cultivated this variety registered and recorded the
production ranging from 1300 kg/ha 4600 kg/ha without undertaking any plant
protection measures especially for heliothis.
Annexure A
Technical
committee conducted study in different district by the way of random survey of
the fields, collected the opinion of farmers & information on production
given is as under:-
|
S.No. |
District |
Average Production of Bt. Cotton kg/ha |
Opinion
of farmers |
|||
|
Mech 162 |
Mech 184 |
Mech 12 |
Navbharat F.1,
F. 2 |
|||
|
1. |
Gandhinagar |
1200
|
1360 |
- |
2200 |
Nav Bharat – 151, F.1 & F.2 registered a high production
& this variety is beneficial for farmers. Farmers are having a good
opinion for the same. While Bt. Cotton
variety developed by Maharashtra Hybrid seed co. Ltd., is susceptible to wilt
& hence may not be fit for cultivation, according to opinion of farmers. |
|
2.
|
Surendranagar |
- |
1100 |
- |
2000 |
|
|
3. |
Vadodara |
1827 |
1700 |
1700 |
4600 |
|
|
4. |
|
1227 |
183 |
- |
1227 |
|
|
5. |
|
2966 |
833 |
- |
3500 |
|
|
6. |
Bharuch |
1925 |
1875 |
2250 |
2000 |
|
|
7. |
Sabarkantha |
- |
2000 |
- |
- |
|
|
8. |
Amreli |
- |
1200 |
- |
1300 |
|
For
under Secretary to the Govt. of
Agriculture
and Co-0peration Department.