Context :
GM cotton covers 95% of the area under cotton and that there are very limited choices for farmers
The fact: Indian farmers have voted for choice of seeds with biotechnologies by planting hybrid cotton biotech seeds on over 90% of the country’s cotton acreage.
- Several key studies by
third-party economists and sociologists have established that 85% of
hybrid Bt cotton seed farmers and farm laborers invested in better
education for children
- 77% reported better intake of nutritious food
- 75% reported better health of their family members
- 64% invested on the health of livestock
- Female workers on Bt cotton fields earned an average 55% higher income
- 42.4 crore additional days of rural employment have been generated, thereby doubling cotton production.
- Biotechnology in cotton, post its introduction in 2002, has led to transformational changes in India’s cotton cultivation.
- These have helped increase cotton yields by over 1.8 times and resulted in substantial reduction in the use of pesticides.
- Biotechnology as lead India to become 2nd largest cotton producing and exporting nation in the world.
