BANGALORE, August 12, 2013
Updated: August 12, 2013 02:36 IST
Sharath S. Srivatsa
The Indian flag made from organic cotton.
The Indian tricolour may have lost its indigenous connection with the ‘desi’ cotton variety, with the use of Bt cotton — a proprietary technology of an American seed company.
Jayadhar, a popular variety of cotton grown in Karnataka that was also earlier used in making flags, has been replaced by Bt cotton.
Now, flag-making units at Bengeri in Hubli city and Garaga in Dharwad district, which meet the nationwide demand for the tricolour, have been using wholly or partly the khadi derived from Bt cotton.
“Quality of cotton is determined by length, strength and appearance, and Bt cotton provides all these qualities. The national flag needs to be stronger. We mainly process Bt cotton and buy other varieties if they are available,” an official at the Central Sliver Plant in Chitradurga said.
The staple in indigenous varieties is shorter than Bt cotton, the official explained on the choice of cotton.
The plant, a unit of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, supplies about 1,000 kg cleaned (after a process called roving to remove dust particles and short fibres) cotton to Garaga Kshetriya Seva Sangh in Dharwad that till 2008 was the sole flag-making unit in the country. The cotton is then hand spun to yarn using a charaka and woven into khadi in handloom. However, sangha secretary Suresh V. Davande said that he was not aware of the Bt cotton being supplied.
At the Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha at Bengeri where flag making started in 2008, the tricolour is manufactured using khadi made out of a combination of Jayadhar and Bt cotton. “To make the flag stronger, we mix Bt cotton with Jayadhar in a ratio of 25:75,” sangha secretary H.N. Antin said. Machinery is not used in the entire flag-making process, he added.
While the sangha at Garaga manufactures about 20,000 flags annually, about 10,000 flags are made annually at Bengeri. The size of the flags — all coming with BIS marking — range from one-and-a-half inch x one inch to 14 ft x 21 ft and the cost ranges from Rs. 115 to Rs. 16,945. The two-and-half ft x three ft flag is most popular in the country.
According to Mr. Davande, every thing that goes into the making of the flag have to meet BIS standards.
“It is unfortunate that the cotton developed by an American company is being used to make the Indian flag” — a symbol of pride for the countrymen — when there are many indigenous cotton varieties that were earlier used for flag making,” said Krishnaprasad of Sahaja Samruddha, which is trying to revive local cotton varieties.
“Before the advent of Bt cotton, only Indian varieties of cotton were being used. Why is it that indigenous varieties are not used now,” he asked.
GM Free India activists have urged the Prime Minister to hoist the flag made from organic cotton this Independence Day.
BANGALORE, September 24, 2013
Updated: September 24, 2013 11:22 IST
Bt cotton now accounts for 94.75 p.c. of total cotton cultivation: T.M. Manjunath
Special Correspondent
A boll in the 135 - day old Bt Cotton Hybrid Brahma BG - II raised by the South India Cotton Association and Monsanto in Coimbatore for demonstration. File Photo: K. Ananthan
The area under Bt cotton cultivation in the country has rapidly increased from 29,000 hectares in 2002 — when commercial cultivation of the variety was permitted to — 11.2 million hectares in 2012, according to biotechnology experts.
Participating at an interaction programme organised by the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bangalore on Monday, Biotechnology and Integrated Pest Management Consultant T.M. Manjunath said Bt cotton now accounts for 94.75 per cent of the country’s entire cotton cultivation. He was interacting with about 150 innovative farmers and Bt experts from public and private sectors on various issues related Bt crops.
Similarly, the number of farmers engaged in cultivation of Bt cotton has increased from about 20,000 in 2002 to 65 lakh in 2012, he said. Referring to the opposition from various quarters to Bt crops and the apprehensions on its impact on health and environment, he said there would not have been a rapid increase in the number of farmers cultivating Bt cotton and its area if the variety was not useful to them. It is cultivated mainly in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, he said.
The main difference between Bt cotton and the normal variety, he said, was that the Bt cotton is resistant to fruit borer, which used to account for nearly 60 per cent of crop loss. The farmers used to apply large quantities of insecticides to protect their cotton crop earlier. Now, the Bt cotton has reduced insecticide usage by about 70 per cent, he said, adding that the benefit per hectare could range from Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 30,000 per hectare. The cotton yield had increased in the range of 200 to 150 kg per hectare before 2002 to 400 to 450 kg today.
On the occasion, UAS-B Vice-Chancellor K. Narayana Gowda said such an interaction with Bt experts had been organised following suggestions from farmers’ leaders who wanted to know its pros and cons. UAS-B Research Director M.A. Shankar said the intention of the interaction meet was to help farmers shape their own opinion on the variety of cotton.
Updated: December 3, 2013 10:16 IST
Disease hits standing Bt cotton crop
Syed Muthahar Saqaf, M. Balaganessin
PERAMBALUR, December 3, 2013
TNAU scientists inspecting the damaged cotton crop near Perambalur on Monday. Photo: Special Arrangement
The Bt cotton crop standing on 13,000 hectares of land at several villages of Perambalur district has been affected by three distinct diseases, causing anxiety among farmers.
A team of scientists from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tiruchi, along with officials of the Agriculture Department inspected the cotton fields in various villages on Monday and evolved a strategy for saving the standing crop.
Perambalur is the leading cotton-producing district in the State and cotton crop had been raised on over 31,000 hectares of land during this Aadi pattam, coinciding with August. Sudden withering of the crop was caused by fungal disease, leaf hopper, and micro nutrient deficiency, particularly deficiency in magnesium, and the expert team noticed during Monday’s visit. The yield is likely to be affected between 10 and 50 per cent. Timely intervention could save the crop to a great extent, they told farmers. Sudden rainfall, a prolonged lull in the rainfall, and uneven distribution of showers, have all contributed to current crisis. To the experts surprise, the crop raised in September was free from any attack, as flowing was yet to commence in these fields. Although Bt cotton was expected to prevent any disease, scientists say that leaf hopper and magnesium deficiency were inevitable.
The team suggested application of 200 ml of either Hexa cona zole or Proti cona zone per acre.
To tackle leaf hopper, it recommended application of 50 ml of Imidacloprid per acre or Fipronil 80 per cent water disposable granule 20 gram per acre. To tide over magnesium deficiency, the team suggested application of a mixture of five grams of magnesium sulphate and 10 grams of urea per litre.
The team was led by Kanagasabai, Joint Director of Agriculture in-charge, and comprised G. Gajendran, professor and head, Department of Plant Protection, D. Dinakaran, professor, Plant Pathology, T. Anandan, assistant professor, Plant Pathology, all from ADAC and RI, and R. Kavimani, professor and head of Cotton Research Station, Veppanthattai.
The issue cropped up at the farmers’ grievances day meeting held on Thursday, when Raja Chidambaram, state secretary of the Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam, drew the attention of the district administration to the plight of cotton farmers.
He said that the farmers had incurred a huge expenditure of about Rs. 40,000 an acre and the phenomenon of the diseases was peculiar to them. He demanded adequate compensation to the affected farmers.
BELGAUM, December 4, 2013
Updated: December 4, 2013 14:48 IST
Scientists have certified Bt cotton seeds are of poor quality: Agriculture Minister
Special Correspondent
Agriculture Minister Krishna Bhairegouda speaking in the Council at Suvarna vidhan soudha in Belgaum on Tuesday. Photo: D.B. Patil
‘In one case, a company has agreed to compensate loss incurred by growers’
Minister of State for Agriculture Krishna Byre Gowda told the Legislative Council here on Tuesday that agriculture scientists have certified that Bt cotton seeds supplied by various companies to growers are of substandard quality.
Replying to Tara of the BJP, Mr. Krishna Byre Gowda said that in one case the company that supplied inferior quality seeds had agreed to compensate the loss incurred by growers.
The government had the power to blacklist such companies and seek compensation from them. “The government won’t stop from exercising its powers once the result of a survey being conducted by agricultural experts comes out,” he observed.
While conceding that it was difficult to find a permanent solution to the problem being faced by growers who have cultivated Bt cotton, he said that every support would be extended to farmers who wanted to take legal action against errant companies.
The government was still receiving complaints from growers who have cultivated Bt cotton and the authorities are looking into them. “Survey of areas from where complaints are being received will be completed in the next 15 days, and based on the survey report, action will be initiated,” he said.
Bt cotton had been grown in an area of 5.10 lakh hectares in 2013-14.
The area under cultivation has been high during this year compared to the previous two years (4.84 lakh hectares in 2011-12 and 4.25-lakh hectares in 2012-13), he said.
Growers from Belgaum, Haveri, Chitradurga, Davangere, Dharwad, Bellary and Gadag districts complained about crop loss under Bt cotton Kanaka-Nikiplus. Regarding Bt cotton crop loss, several rounds of meetings have been held with companies concerned at the government level to assist the farmers.
It was decided to constitute a joint survey team to assess the reasons and the extent of crop damage.
“The exact area of crop loss will be known only after the survey is completed,” he said.
Blacklisted
To another question from Dayanand of the Congress, Mr. Krishna Byre Gowda said that Mahindra and Mahindra Limited and Captain Tractors Private Limited have been blacklisted for supplying poor quality combined harvesters and poor quality tractors.
BELGAUM, December 4, 2013
Updated: December 4, 2013 14:48 IST
'Almost 100 p.c. loss under Mahyco Bt Kanaka variety'
Says report prepared by a committee set up by Coalition for GM Free Karnataka Movement
A fact-finding report on Bt cotton crop has highlighted that growers who had sown Mahyco Bt Kanaka variety seeds suffered almost 100 per cent losses as the seed failed to yield, while other varieties of Bt cotton have also been affected.
The report prepared by a committee set up by Coalition for GM Free Karnataka Movement consisting of experts such as H.R. Prakash, progressive farmers, sociologists and leaders of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene and members of Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture, was released by KRRS president Kodihalli Chandrashekar here on Tuesday.
He later submitted a copy of the report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The committee members carried out field studies in Haveri and Davangere districts for five days last month. They observed that Bt cotton taken up in 18,000 hectares in the two districts failed to yield.
Presenting the observations of the report to the media, Shivayogi Makri of Desi Krushikara Belaga and Manjunath Holalu, Co-Convener of Coalition for GM Free Karnataka said that there were 25 different brands of Bt cotton hybrids grown in Haveri and Davangere districts.
Of this, Bt cotton Kanaka variety of Mahyco, with stacked genes from Monsanto, was taken up in nearly 50 per cent of the area.
Bt cotton Kanaka variety was the worst affected from Mirid bug attack with almost the entire crop not bearing bolls.
The report further observed that the Agriculture Department had failed to respond to repeated warnings from studies by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, and the Central Institute of Cotton Research, Nagpur.
Their reports, which came in 2007, had explicitly indicated the increasing incidence of sucking pests, especially Mirid bugs in Bt cotton in central Karnataka areas.
And, the Central Institute of Cotton Research study also pointed to MRC 7351 (Bt Kanaka) being highly susceptible to Mirid bug.
The fact-finding team also found that native cotton varieties such as Sahana grown under organic practices were not affected by Mirid bug and other sucking pests.
ADILABAD, November 27, 2013Is Bt cotton losing quality?
S. Harpal Singh
Inconsistent quality parameters worry processing industries
Assessing quality:A farmer checking cotton for its colour in his field in Jainad mandal on Tuesday.-PHOTO: BY ARRANGEMENT
Is Bt cotton gradually losing on grade or quality or is it just susceptible to the ill-effects of mono cropping and vagaries of weather like any other crop?
The question is haunting the cotton processing industries in Adilabad as they have noticed changes in certain aspects related to its grade over the last few years.
However, they did not deny the possibility of climatic variation in the successive years affecting the quality of the produce.
The cotton produced in the black cotton soils of the district, including the non Bt varieties, was once reputed for its strong and robust fibre, besides the staple length of a minimum 33 mm. The oil content in cotton seed also used to be around 20 per cent, among the highest in the country.
However, the processing industries are now worried over the deterioration of the quality.
Quality measures
“We have observed a slow deterioration in characters of Bt cotton. Its micronaire value is constantly on the decline,” says Pradeep Kotgirwar, a cotton trader, hinting towards the possible inherent weakness of the Bt variety.
“The average staple length of cotton was 28 mm to 29 mm last year, though this year it is 30 mm. The micronaire value last year was 3.1 while it has improved to 4 this year,” reveals S. Swamy of a private cotton testing laboratory in Adilabad.
“The strength of the fibre is 23 grams per tex but the colour grade of cotton leaves much scope at 31 CG against the ideal of 21 CG,” he adds.
"These changes could also occur because of the adverse climatic conditions,” opines Principal Scientist B. Satish Chandra of the Agriculture Research Station, Adilabad.
“We are also experiencing stunted growth of cotton plants and a delay in bursting of bolls owing to the excessive rainfall and reddish wilt owing to cold,” he says.
“We are now extracting only 9.5 per cent oil from cotton seed instead of the standard 13 per cent. The soap stock by product has also doubled from the standard 10 per cent to 20 per cent,” discloses Gopal Tulsyan, owner of a cotton seed crushing unit. However, he supports the contention of Bt cotton being prone to change in nature, which has commercial repercussions.
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