The sale of spurious Bt cotton seeds has significantly come down in the country. This is despite the fact that acreage under Bt cotton has risen considerably leading to bumper production over the last four years.
The government statistics suggest that in 2007-08, only 5.23 per cent of the samples tested were found spurious against 68.91 per cent back in 2003-04. Cotton experts said that soon illegal Bt packet will no more be there in the market as regulatory authorities are taking detective and punitive actions against unapproved Bt cotton varieties.
The shrinking of spurious cotton seeds has helped the country become second largest producer, consumer and exporter of cotton in the world.
C D Mayee, chairman of Agriculture Scientists Recruitment Board, said, “The efforts by Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) and declining prices of Bt cotton helped bring illegal Bt packets under control.”
The worst affected cotton growing states are Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Maharashtra. In Gujarat alone, the presence of spurious quality seeds has come down to 20 per cent in 2007-08 from as high as 80 per cent in 2003-04. However, in Madhya Pradesh, out of the total samples tested in 2007-08, over 45 per cent were found to be sub-standard and unapproved Bt varieties. These four states produce over two-third of the total country’s output.
Samples are drawn from Bt cotton seed lots and sent to the Bt-referral lab at CICR in Nagpur. “A simple immunological test can be used even by an illiterate farmer directly in the field. It can be used for seeds, leaves and flowers,” said Mayee.