For Arul Venkatesan, a cotton-growing farmer in the Aroor block of Dharmapuri district, the stand that Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa took in the Assembly in August, that her government will not “promote” GM crops in the State, “struck the ears like music”. Venkatesan was one among the thousands of farmers in the State who shifted to Bt cotton in 2005, after it was widely publicised as a “pest-resistant” and “high-yielding” variety by “scientists”, who held orientation programmes in the villages. [...]

“I sowed all my four acres with the 6,918 variety seed that they guaranteed would give huge profits. The plant grew well as we devotedly followed every instruction. But the crop never flowered. Zero yield pushed the entire belt of 2,500 hectares where farmers like me had cultivated Bt cotton, into distress,” he recalls.

The lucrative income involved in picking of cotton has created a grave shortage of domestic helps in Adilabad. An assured earning of over Rs. 300 per day has women toiling in the cotton fields instead of indulging in the drab cleaning of homes. The introduction of Bt cotton has brought a revolutionary change in many activities that has gone unnoticed. Employment of women in agriculture fields is one such area, which had a positive impact on the economy of the working class here.

The advent of Bt cotton in the country has seen the native, tree-type arboreum varieties losing their relevance. The reasons for the native or desi varieties losing out to Bt and other hybrid cottons are many, including higher production costs and lower realisation. But thanks to concerns expressed by the scientific community, a fresh lease of life is around the corner with the development of a genetically modified desi cotton variety. “We have got ready a desi variety cotton with Bt gene. We are waiting for the approval of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee,” said Dr C. D. Mayee, President, Indian Society for Cotton Improvement.

Bollgard III, the advanced version of genetically modified cotton from the US agri-science major Monsanto, is likely to be commercially released in the global market in 2016-17. For India, it could take some more time and could be introduced around 2020, according to a Monsanto official. ”Bollgard III will have resistance to bollworm, army worm and pink bollworm. It will also be herbicide tolerant,” said Dr Roy Cantrell, Global Cotton Breeding Lead of Monsanto.

The Kerala Roller Flour Millers Association and the All Kerala Bread Manufacturers Association has called for the immediate ban on open air releases of Genetically Modified food crops. The call comes amidst reports that the controversial Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill will be tabled in the coming winter session of the Parliament.

The Bill to set up a biotech regulator appears to have run into further trouble with some lawmakers opposing the proposal to allow the Ministry of Science and Technology to govern the authority. [...] Among members having strong reservations were Jyoti Mirdha (Cong), C P Thakur (BJP), Basudeb Acharia (CPM) and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD), who felt the regulator should be under the Ministry of Environment and Forests or Health and not under the Ministry of Science and Technology, whose role is to promote biotechnology.

Pests continue to cause problems to growers despite the widespread and increasing use of genetically modified cotton in the country. According to Dr C.D. Mayee, President of Indian Society for Cotton Improvement, farmers are not any more facing problems from the bollworm that led to the introduction of Bt cotton in the country. [...] Currently, sucking pests, mealy bug, para wilt, thrips, mirid bugs, jassids and pink bollworms are causing problems in cotton.

Nine cotton growers of Vidarbha region allegedly committed suicide in the last 72 hours at a time when traders have begun raw cotton procurement from Thursday. [...] The Bt cotton seeds promoted by the state have increased the economic pressure on farmers instead of resulting in higher yields of disease free crops. Already a low return and high risk livelihood, these policies that claim to reduce the risk have only increased the cost of farming.

India’s biotech sector is expected to grow at a robust 20 per cent per annum in the near future, given the growing demand for biopharmaceuticals, biosimilars and vaccines, says a veteran in the field. Biofuels would also offer a huge growth opportunity in biotech, the Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon, the country’s largest biotech company by revenue, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said.

Bollgard II cotton has been cultivated in 84 lakh hectares in the country this year, according to Mr R. Barwale, Managing Director of Mahyco India Ltd. This is out of the 118 lakh hectares under cotton this year. [...] Earlier on Monday, the conference saw experts expressing concerns over the fact that Bt cotton is now accounting for 93 per cent of the total area under cotton. “Such a dominance could lead to elimination or disappearance of old and traditional varieties,” said Dr C.D. Mayee, Chairman of the National Organising Committee of the conference. “Bt cotton cannot be a panacea for everything,” he said.