Gujarat, which is set to harvest a record 90-100 lakh bales of cotton this season, could have increased its yield even further but for use of illegal cotton seeds on a vast tract under the cash crop. Gujarat has 57 lakh acres (nearly 25 lakh hectares) under cotton. In 2007, farmers cultivated genuine Bollgard Bt cotton seeds on 23.3 lakh acres, illegal cotton seeds on 15.8 lakh acres, and conventional (desi) seeds on 16.2 lakh acres. That is, 28 per cent of the area under cotton had been cultivated using illegal cotton seeds which remains ”one of the top deterrents to increasing cotton production,” according to Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Ltd, or MMB, a 50:50 joint venture between Mahyco and Monsanto Company, US.