| A study conducted by Indian Market Research Bureau International (IMRB International) has concluded that the benefits of Bollgard cotton, including better yields, reduced pesticide use and higher profits, have led to the acreage witnessing a compounded growth of 200 per cent in the past five seasons. |
| Bollgard cotton or Bt cotton has resulted in 64 per cent of additional output compared with that of the conventional cotton, noted the study, adding that the genetically modified seed and technology have enriched farmers by Rs 6,700 an acre. |
| Farmers, who have sown Bt cotton seeds, are likely to earn an additional income of Rs 7,026.5 crore, based on the 8.6 million acreage penetration estimated to be achieved in this crop season. The rural income is expected to rise by over 36 per cent this season from Rs 2,100 crore generated in the last season, the study added. |
| Bollgard results in reduced pesticides consumption and the current crop is expected to lower the use of pesticides by 3.4 million kilo litre as compared with that of 0.8 million kilo litre last year. |
| Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Ltd (MMB), the Bollgard technology supplier, estimates that the use of Bt cotton would witness a rise by 20 per cent this season, resulting in 60 per cent of the total use of hybrid cotton seed across 14 million acre in the country. |
| "Our next target is this 14 million acre," said Bipin Solanki, deputy managing director of Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Ltd. |
| Mahyco Monsanto calculates the acreage on the basis of total packets of Bt cotton seeds supplied by seed companies to farmers. |
| Each packet contains 450 gram of Bt cotton seed and 120 gram of non-Bt cotton seed of the same hybrid. |
| Bollgard is the brand name of the genetically modified seed technology, which protects cotton from three insects "� heliothis, pink bollworm and spotted bollworm. Bt stands for bacillus thirungiensis, a bacterium whose gene is injected into cotton seeds to make them resistant to bollworms. |
| The acreage under Bt cotton in Maharashtra is expected to treble this year at 4.5 million acre as compared with 1.4 million acre last year. |
| The total acreage under cotton in the state is 7 million acre. |
| Apart from the four companies already marketing Bollgard hybrids, nine new companies received approval for commercial cultivation of their hybrids, taking the total number of Bollgard hybrids in the country to 48. |
| Seven hybrids of Bollgard-II were approved by Genetic Engineering and Approval Committee (GEAC) for the first time in central and southern India. |
| "The increase in acreage and number of farmers adopting Bollgard is a testament to the continuing success and acceptance of the technology in India," Solanki said. |
| India's cotton output is likely to touch 30 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) against the government estimate of 27 million bales this season. |
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