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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Farmers earn more from organic cotton: Survey

Farmers earn more from organic cotton: Survey

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published Published on Jun 18, 2010   modified Modified on Jun 18, 2010

Greenpeace, the non-governmental organisation, has claimed that farmers get more income if they cultivate organic cotton instead of Bt cotton.

The NGO, which conducted a survey in three top cotton growing districts of Warangal, Karimnagar and Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh, said that the net income of organic cotton farmers is Rs 6,000 an acre, while Bt cotton farmers earned only Rs 2,000.

“This is due to the higher cost of pesticides. Though the incomes are almost at the same levels of Rs 11,000, organic farmers register more net income because they spent less on pesticides. Their cost of production was only Rs 4,600, while Bt cotton farmers spent Rs 9,000, giving them lesser net incomes,” Ms Reyes Tirado, who works for Greenpeace Research Laboratories at the University of Exeter in the UK, said.

She was here to release the report “Picking Cotton – The choice between organic and genetically-engineered cotton for farmers in South India”.

Yields

Presenting the findings of the report here on Tuesday, she said there was not much difference in yields. “The small yield increase in Bt and chemically-intensive cotton farms does not translate into income benefit for the farmers due to high cultivation costs,” she said.

Greenpeace activists conducted the survey in three districts by talking to 27 farmers with small holdings — 15 Bt cotton farmers and the rest organic farmers. “In the dry year of 2009-10, the economic livelihood (net return after repaying debts) for Bt cotton farmers is negative. On the average, they end up owing Rs 7,136 an acre. The higher costs of cultivation make them very vulnerable to financial insecurity and failure,” she said.

Demands

She alleged that the availability of non-Bt seed was almost absent, denying choice to the farmers. While demanding a ban on Bt cotton cultivation, the NGO asked the Government to support organic cotton and ecological farming.


The Hindu Business Line, 16 June, 2010, http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/06/17/stories/2010061751791700.htm


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