BT II helps farmers save Rs 1,600/hectare on pesticides

New Delhi, July 10 (UNI) The latest BT II Cotton technology introduced in the country will help farmers save Rs 1,600 per hectare on the use of pesticides against those using conventional hybrids.

A study by Assocham on 'BT Cotton Farming in India' released here today said, ''Pesticides consumption by farmers using BT II is estimated at Rs 1,300 per hectare against Rs 2,900 by those growing conventional hybrids in the nine cotton growing states.'' These states are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

However, the study highlighted that farmers using BT I variant spend Rs 2,000 per hectare on pesticides over their one-acre farm land.

The study stated BT seed cost 2.5 times over conventional seeds and the total pesticide expense was 1.46 times higher for conventional ones over BT.

The net revenue per acre was Rs 7,757 higher when BT was used than conventional cotton in 2006, stated the study.

Percentage of gross revenue benefit was up by 162. Reduction in the number of sprays against bollworm by 4.6 times and the total reduction in pesticides' spend on an average was Rs 934 per acre.

The study also highlights that farmers who planted BT cotton--BT and BT II--in 2006 earned an additional Rs 7,039 crore as income, based on 8.77 million acreage penetration achieved during this crop season.

The study shows that yield has increased around 50 per cent in BT fields in 2006 when compared to conventional cotton fields.

The Assocham study also highlights that in terms of economic infrastructure and economic activity, BT villages are clearly ahead when compared with Non BT areas in terms of presence of permanent markets (44 per cent in BT villages against 35 per cent in non-BT villages), greater penetration of shops (24 per cent against 18 per cent), banking (34 per cent against 28), telecom, internet, etc.

As regard to education, children belonging to BT farming households show significantly higher enrollment compared to their non-BT counterparts in five out of eight states surveyed, the study showed.

UNI