Rasi Seeds bets on Bt cotton, eyes 66.6% growth in turnover

Betting on its foray into the Bt cotton market, Tamil Nadu-based Rasi Seeds, is targeting a 66.66 per cent growth in turnover at Rs 75 crore during the current financial year. It recorded a turnover of Rs 45 crore in the financial year 2003-04.

Rasi seeds will start marketing its Bt (bacillus thurengiensis) cotton seed during the 2004 kharif season beginning in June in the six states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Rasi Seeds, which sells hybrid seeds of cotton, vegetables, rice and maize, plans to launch a bajra hybrid seed this year. It is gearing up its research and development machinery to launch super fine variety of cotton in the next two years.

The super fine variety of cotton meant for Japan at present sells at Rs 6,000 per quintal as compared to Rs 2,500 prevailing in the country.

The R&D wing of Rasi Seeds is headed by R Krishnamurthy, a well-known breeder of the famous extra long staple superfine variety 'Suvin' and the largely popular medium staple variety LRA 5166.

Rasi Seeds has also embarked on developing hybrid varieties of cotton for exports to southern Europe and Southeast Asia in the next couple of years. The company will have to enter into an MoU with Delta Pineland, the largest seed company in the country, which is the global licensee for Monsanto Bt cotton.

M Ramasami, managing director of Rasi Seeds, told Business Standard here on Monday that the company had received the approval from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) to commercially launch the Bt cotton seed "� RCH2 Bt.

Rasi is the second company in the country to get GEAC approval for producing Bt cotton seeds. Mahyco was the first venture to get approval in April 2002 to produce three strains "� MECH 162, MECH12 and MECH 184. Mahyco also has the approval to sell Bt cotton in the six states that Rasi is entering.

Rasi has also been permitted by GEAC to conduct field trials on three other Bt cotton varieties -- RCH20, RCH 138 and RCH 144. Besides the company, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is conducting field trials on these Bt cotton varieties. The company hopes to launch them in the next one or two years.

Ramasami said Rasi Seeds was permitted by GEAC to go in for a limited production of RCH2 Bt in an area of 100 hectares last year. It is targeting sale of 3.5 lakh packets of RCH2 Bt at the cost of Rs 1,600 per packet in the six states.

Each packet consists of 450 grams of RCH2 Bt cotton seeds and 120 grams of non-BT cotton seeds. Non-Bt cotton variety needs to be grown around the Bt cotton area as per the GEAC regulations.

Ramasami said Rasi Seeds would take up large-scale production of RCH2 Bt seed for the 2005 season and hopes to increase the Bt cotton seed sales by four to five times.

The total Bt cotton seed sales in the country would be around 10 lakh packets this year with only two companies in the market "� Mahyco and Rasi. Thus, the demand far outstrips the supply and achieving the overall sales target of Rs 75 crore would not be a tough task for Rasi Seeds, Ramasami said.

He said that cotton was grown on an acreage of around 220 lakh acres. Andhra Pradesh accounts for five per cent of public hybrids, 93 per cent of proprietary hybrid seeds and two per cent of varieties in the country.

Around 120-140 lakh packets of cotton seeds are sold in the country every year. Maharashtra, Gujarat and AP occupy the top three slots, accounting for 43 lakh packets, 18 lakh packets and 14 lakh packets respectively. Each packet meets the seed requirements of an acre.

Stating that the loss of cotton yield due to bollworm attack is around 30 per cent in the country, Ramasami said that Bt variety of cotton seeds was found to be an effective alternative to the hybrid seeds "� public and proprietary.

"There is a need for more varieties of Bt cotton seeds in the country to increase the yield. The RCH2 Bt cotton yields 10-12 quintals an acre as compared to 6-8 quintals for non-Bt varieties. If RCH2 is used, the expenses on pesticides to counter the attack of bollworm and sucking pests will also come down to less than Rs 3,000 from Rs 6,000-8,000 in the case of non-Bt varieties," he said.

On the concerns of cotton farmers who took to Bt cotton cultivation in Andhra Pradesh, Ramasami observed that the farmers from the south, especially from Andhra Pradesh, had a preference for long staple cotton varieties.

The Bt cotton variety initially introduced in the state being a medium staple one, the farmers' expectations could not be met. However, the later varieties introduced by Mahyco addressed this concern, he said.

He added that this was the reason why Rasi Seeds chose upon the long staple RCH2 Bt for the Andhra Pradesh market. Another longer staple Bt variety RCH 20 would be introduced in the three southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the next two years.

The other two varieties under development "� long staple RCH 138 and medium staple RCH 144 "� would be launched in the northern and the central regions, he said.

According to Ramasami, trials were conducted on RCH2 Bt in 10 districts in Andhra Pradesh during the kharif 2003. The trials conducted under the farmers' field conditions in diverse agro ecological areas had recorded 27.62 per cent in the yield per hectare at 2,901 as compared to 2,273 for 'Bunny', a popular commercial cotton hybrid. There were also savings to the tune of Rs 5,328 per hectare in RCH2 fields as compared to the fields under 'Bunny'.

The Rasi Seeds MD was in the city to address a business partners meet held on Tuesday. Around 500 seed dealers across the state took part in the meet.