Bt cotton reaches two-thirds of current Indian output

(February 5, 2008) According to statistics newly released by the Cotton Association of India, transgenic Bt cotton represents 66 per cent of Indian cotton grown in the current season. Cotton acreage in India totals more than 9.5 million hectares. A record harvest of 31 million bales is expected this season, due in part to the bollworm resistance and high yield of Bt cotton.

The transgenic cotton is found most extensively in the central Indian zone, where it is grown on more than 4 million hectares. Areas of 1.08 million and 870,000 hectares respectively are cultivated in the southern and northern zones. In all of these major regions, Bt cotton occupies two-thirds to three-quarters of the total area for the crop.

Despite extensive field areas, India produces an average of only 553 kg of cotton per cultivated hectare and lags thereby at a significant distance to other cotton-producing countries. Global averages are recorded as 765kg of cotton per cultivated hectare. However, the use of Bt cotton has fostered Indian yields since the season of 2000-2001, in which India produced 338kg less cotton per hectare than the world average. For the current growing season of 2007-8, the national shortfall is anticipated to be only 212 kg per hectare and the four major cotton-producing states of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and the Punjab are expected to achieve yields of 743, 691, 667 and 630 kilograms of cotton per hectare respectively.

See also on GMO Compass:

• Global Cultivation Areas 2007