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ï
 
  

ð GM cropped area- 100 million hectares ±

accounts about 5 % of the global cropped
area (2006)

ð 73% of World cotton area (35 million ha)

& 80 % of production (43 million MT)-
concentrated in 6 countries- US, China,
India, Pakistan, Brazil & Uzbekistan (FAO
2006)
ð Monsanto seeds (Bt.Cotton- 


 
Cotton-growing states in India
ð Gujrat, Punjab, A.P, Maharashtra ,
M.P & Karnataka .
ð A Quantum jump in productivity
from 298 kg/ha during 1990s- 500
kg/ha after the wide scale adoption
of cotton since 2002.
ë   


In states of Maharashtra & A.P.
†Farmer¶s anticipation (higher yields
effects + drastic reduction in use of
pesticides & Insecticides against
Bollworm, sucking pests )
†evidence from studies (2002-06) ±
returns from Bt technology do not
render higher net returns at farm
level.
j e debate around GM Seeds:

ð Social & Environmental

appropriateness of genetically
engineered organisms ;

ð Introduction, diffusion &

performance of Bt cotton seeds in
India.
j e institutional context
ð ùillegal´ Bt cotton seeds posits a
paradoxical problem.
ð biotechnology and genetic engineering
has become a site for democratic
imagination in India.
ð The proponents and opponents debating ±
situations that may entail social and
environmental risk, impact on human
health, eradication of hunger and poverty
and monopolisation of scientific and
technological knowledge.
ï
t e Controvers


ð Farmers lack of information on

growing conditions, use of
pesticides
ð the importance of planting proper
seeds, and
ð the earnings to be expected from
using this technology
ð The reported effects of Bt cotton in
India largely vary due to the
extensive heterogeneity of the
growing environment, pest
pressures, farmer practices & social
context.
r

   
ë  

ð Social factors, external & yet constraining

on the individual, regulate human social
actions and act as a constraint to human
behavior.
ð Indebtedness from repeated crop losses
and a fall in social status due to loss of
income and the inability to maintain the
same level of expenditure are
Characteristic indicators leading to
Farmer¶s suicide.
Causes of indebtedness

ð changes in cropping patterns, plant

resistance to pesticides and
ð increased spending on pesticides, a
shift from low-cost food crops to
high-cost cash crops, lack of access
to institutional credit, and
ð a shift of government policy focus
away from agriculture.