Bt cotton farming revolutionizes women's employment in India: Study

London, July 29 (ANI): One of the first genetically modified crops, Bt cotton, has been the source of increasing employment for Indian women, says a new study.

Dr Arjunan Subramanian of WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group) in the University of Warwick said that the crop generated not only higher income for rural workers but also more employment, especially for hired female labour.

The additional employment has raised the total wage income by 40 US dollars per hectare - the largest increase amongst women being gain of 55 percent in average income.

"We also found that the use of Bt cotton also improved female working conditions as the reduction in the amount of family male labour involved in scouting and spraying for pests meant that that labour was reallocated to other household economic activities, previously carried out by female family members, increasing the returns to this labour category," Nature quoted Subramanian as saying.

The study village, Kanzara, is located in the Akola district of Maharashtra, the state with the largest area under cotton in India.

The research has been published in Nature Biotechnology. (ANI)