The farmers’ experiences related to cotton marketing are analysed based on the field survey data in 10 sample villages of the Adilabad district of Telangana during 2019–20.
Biotechnology for a Second Green Revolution in India: Socioeconomic, Political, and Public Policy Issues edited by N Chandrasekhara Rao, Carl E Pray and Ronald J Herring, New Delhi: Academic Foundation, 2018; pp 434, ₹1,495.
The need for technology in agriculture is often confused with giving farmers access to genetically modified crops. Rarely is the performance of the country’s first GM crop, Bt cotton, examined under a critical lens. Instead, the backdoor entry of illegal GM seeds is gaining momentum in the name of progress and of giving farmers a choice. The absence of a strict regulation regime is sorely felt. Research on agriculture and sustainability is the need of the hour.
With India emerging as a leading cotton producer in the world, and considering the large-scale adoption of Bt cotton cultivation, there is a need to understand the patterns of pesticide use by cotton farmers, especially as environmental, ecological, and health concerns surrounding pesticide use continue to be debated.
Results of small field study in selected locations in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, two of the six states that have been granted permission to commercially cultivate Bt cotton - the first genetically-modified crop to be cultivated in India.
A field study in Andhra Pradesh elicited the views of farmers in two districts in the state on the efficacy of Bt cotton in withstanding pest attacks, use of pesticides, compliance with government norms, and farmers' willingness to continue with cultivation of Bt cotton in the coming seasons.
Biotechnology was created within a politics of anxiety and desire in India. The paper attempts to understand the social construction of biotechnology. It locates biotechnology within the wider debates on development and describes an orchestra of positions each of which captures one part of the debate.
'Magical' Bt cotton seeds from Gujarat have flooded the market and the government is yet to begin any sort of education or information campaign to explain the problems with the seed and the precautions that need to be taken.
A correspondent writes: Genetically modified cotton (Bt cotton) finds itself at the centre of a fresh controversy. An Ahmedabad-based company has allegedly been found to have sold Bt cotton seeds to farmers in at least seven districts in Gujarat who have planted it in over 10,000 acres and are all set to reap a bumper harvest. In fact, some of them have already harvested their crop. The government has so far not allowed the cultivation of any GM crops, hence the transgenic cotton crop is illegal. The union environment ministry has now stepped in and asked the Gujarat government to
