28-06-2025
Stark difference in labour costs pushes Maharashtra farmers to grow illegal HTBt cotton variety
Over the last few years, Laximant Kauthankar has refrained from using genetically modified cotton variety, commonly known as Bt cotton, and has completely switched to using the unauthorised Herbicide Tolerant Bt (HTBt) cotton. This farmer from Adgaon Budruk village in Akot taluka of Akola knows such cultivation is illegal but claims that simple economics pushes him towards it.
'Weed control alone in Bt cotton would cost me over Rs 20,000 per acre. In the case of HTBt, the same would cost Rs 2,000. So why should I not go for it?' he asks. Kauthankar says the input shop in his village hardly sees any sale of Bt cotton – most farmers have crossed over to HTBt for the same reason as him.
Like him, other cotton growers in Maharashtra have lapped up the unauthorised transgenic cotton, fully knowing the illegality of their act. Central government regulations stipulate fines as well as jail term for the cultivation of non-authorised GM crops. India has so far allowed the commercial release of Bt cotton. Bt stands for Bacillus thuringiensis – the name of the bacteria whose gene has been inserted into the cotton seed. HTBt is the next generation of GM cotton and allows the plants to resist the spray of the commonly applied herbicide glyphosate for weed control. But the sale, production as well as storage of this variant is illegal in the country.
But for farmers like Kauthankar, the ground situation matters. 'Consider this: for an acre of land, I would require around four cycles of weeding during the entire 6-7 month cycle of the cotton crop. For a single weeding, I would require around 15 labourers and thus the total requirement for labourers would be around 60. At a daily wage of Rs 300 per day, the total labour expenditure for weeding turns out to be Rs 18,000. Even if I arrange the money, where are the labourers?,' said the farmer who cultivates cotton and soyabean over 40 acres of his holding. On the other hand, HTBt cotton requires spraying of the herbicide, and the total cost of this operation across the entire cotton crop cycle comes to Rs 2,000 per acre.
Seed companies acknowledge this growing trend and say that of the 120 lakh hectares of cotton-growing area, around 15-20 per cent sees the cultivation of this unauthorised transgenic variety. Farmers say the seed production happens in Gujarat after which it mostly enters Maharashtra, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. In the north, this variant has failed to gain popularity with farmers.
Over the last few years, seed associations have asked the government to acknowledge the changing trend and take steps to address it. However, till date, no decision has been taken to regularise this variant. A senior seed industry official said that without regularisation, farmers are exposed to various threats like fraud. 'There is no control over the sale and quality of this transgenic variety. At the end of the day, it is harmful for the industry,' the official pointed out.
Partha Sarathi Biwas is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express with 10+ years of experience in reporting on Agriculture, Commodities and Developmental issues. He has been with The Indian Express since 2011 and earlier worked with DNA. Partha's report about Farmers Producer Companies (FPC) as well long pieces on various agricultural issues have been cited by various academic publications including those published by the Government of India. He is often invited as a visiting faculty to various schools of journalism to talk about development journalism and rural reporting. In his spare time Partha trains for marathons and has participated in multiple marathons and half marathons. ... Read More
