Non-Bt cotton varieties sown in 15.89L hectares this season

Non-Bt cotton varieties have been sown in 15.89 lakh hectares (ha) area till July 28, in the current Kharif season (June-October) in the country, Parliament was informed today.
"Non Bt cotton varieties are sown in 15.89 lakh hectares in kharif 2016 till July 28, 2016 in different regions of the country," Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
Of this Maharashtra accounts for 5.45 lakh hectares followed by Gujarat (4.08 lakh ha), Karnataka (1.45 lakh ha), Haryana (1.34 lakh ha), Rajasthan (1.31 lakh ha), Odisha (1.26 lakh ha), Madhya Pradesh (0.54 lakh ha) and Uttar Pradesh (0.17 lakh ha), he added.

This is against 8.57 lakh hectares sown in the Kharif 2015 season, Singh said.
During Kharif crops are sown in June and harvested in October.
"It is a fact that native non-Bt. Varieties especially of desi cotton species- Gossypium arboreum are tolerant to moisture stress, water logging, salinity, resistant to majority of diseases and insect pests," the Minister added.