Lok Sabha Question No. 3889 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-09
Subject: Cultivation of Bt. Cotton
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: RANJEET RANJAN, VEENA DEVI, BOORA NARSAIAH GOUD, RAJESH RANJAN  (PAPPU  YADAV), PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA, DIPSINH SHANKARSINH RATHOD, KALYAN BANERJEE, JAYADEV GALLA, DARSHANA VIKRAM JARDOSH, DUSHYANT CHAUTALA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3889

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  9 TH  AUGUST, 2016

## CULTIVATION OF BT. COTTON

## 3889.  SHRIMATI RANJEET RANJAN:

SHRIMATI VEENA DEVI:

DR. BOORA NARSAIAH GOUD:

SHRI RAJESH RANJAN:

PROF. PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA:

SHRI D.S. RATHOD:

SHRI KALYAN BANERJEE:

SHRI JAYADEV GALLA:

SHRIMATI DARSHANA VIKRAM JARDOSH:

SHRI DUSHYANT CHAUTALA:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE   ‡ãðŠãäÓã एवं कसान कयाण

½ãâ¨ããè

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  cultivation  of  bt.  Cotton  is  more  profitable  than  that  of  traditional cotton varieties in the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  acreage  and  production  of  bt.  Cotton increased/decreased in the country during the last three years and the current year, State-wise;
- (c) whether the production of cotton in various parts of the country is far less than the targets during the said period and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor, State-wise;
- (d) the details of cotton yield per acre in the country vis-a-vis to those of the United States of America and China and the efforts being made by the Government to increase the same; and
- (e) the  steps  taken/proposed to  be  taken  by the  Government  in co-ordination  with the  Ministry  of  Commerce  and  Industry  to  check  the  fall  in  the  price  of  cotton  and promote the export of cotton to protect the interest of the cotton growers?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF  STATE IN THE  MINISTRY OF  AGRICULTURE AND  FARMERS  WELFARE

‡ãðŠãäÓã एवं कसान कयाण ½ãâ¨ããÊã¾ã  ½ãñâ  Àã·¾ã  ½ãâ¨ããè (  SHRI  S.S. AHLUWALIA)

(a) & (b): Yes, Madam.  Traditional cotton varieties do not contain the Bt gene that offers protection against lepidopteran pests particularly bollworms. Bt cotton contained "Bt  genes"  that  offered  protection  to  the  crop  against  bollworms.  Under  conditions where the infestation due to bollworm is high, cultivation of Bt cotton is profitable. During

other periods, where the infestation of bollworms is of a low intensity, as it has been the case  during  majority  of  the  years  since  the  introduction  of  Bt  cotton,  cultivation  of traditional cotton varieties with good agronomic management can be as profitable as Bt cotton.

State-wise area under Bt. Cotton during 2013-14 to 2016-17 is given in Annexure-I.

(c): The  production  of  cotton  has  declined  from  348.05  lakh  tonnes  in  2014-15  to 301.47  lakh  tonnes  in  2015-16  (4 th Advance  Estimates)  which  is  mainly  attributed  to drought  like  condition  in  major  cotton  growing  states  viz.  Maharashtra,  Telangana, Andhra Pradesh etc., whitefly problem in Punjab & Haryana and Pink bollworm problem in Gujarat, Maharashtra & Karnataka.  State-wise target and production of cotton during 2012-13 to 2015-16 is given in Annexure-II.

(d)    The  cotton  yield  per  ha  in  the  country  vis-à-vis  to  those  of  the  United  States  of America & China is as under:-

Lint Yield (Kg/ha)

| Countries   |   2013-14 |   2014-15 |
|-------------|-----------|-----------|
| USA*        |     920.6 |     939.3 |
| China*      |    1478.7 |    1508.1 |
| India**     |     510   |     462   |

*Source:- International Cotton Advisory Committee

** Source:- Directorate of Economics & Statistics

Department  of  Agriculture,  Cooperation  and  Farmers  Welfare  is  implementing Cotton  Development  Programme  with  a  focus  on  cropping  system  approach  under National Food Security Mission (NFSM) in 15 major cotton growing states viz; Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal from 2014-15 with an aim for increasing production & productivity.  Under the scheme, thrust is given  for transfer of latest  technology  to  cotton  growers  through  Front  Line Demonstration  (FLD)  on  Integrated  Crop  Management  (ICM),  Intercropping,  Desi    & Extra  Long  Staple  Cotton,  High  Density  Planting  System.    The  scheme  is  being implemented  through  State Department  of Agriculture (SDA), Indian Council of Agricultural  Research  (ICAR),  State  Agriculture  Universities  (SAUs),  Krishi  Vigyan Kendras  (KVKs) etc.

Besides, State can support cotton development programme under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).

(e): The  Ministry  of  Commerce  &  Industry  has  launched  a  new  scheme  namely 'Merchandize Exports from India (MEIS)' under Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20, wherein the  exporters  are  incentivized  for  export  of  specified  goods  /  products  to  a  specified market.    Currently,  export  incentive  for  Cotton  (ITC  Code:  57049010)  under  MEIS  is available  @  5%  for  all  the  country  group  A,  B  &  C.    In  addition,  the  Ministry  of Commerce & Industry has put in place various schemes namely Market Development Assistance (MDA), Market Assistance Initiative (MAI), Assistance to State for Development Export infrastructure and Allied Activities (ASIDE) etc. to boost export of Agriculture products.

The  Cotton  Corporation  of  India  (CCI)  is  closely  monitoring  the  domestic  price situation. With a view to pass on benefit of Minimum Support Price (MSP) and to ensure remunerative price to a large section of cotton farmers, the Govt. of India has nominated the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) as nodal agency to undertake Minimum Support Price  (MSP)  operation  in  all  cotton  growing  States  in  the  event  when  prices  of  seed cotton (kapas) touches the MSP level to purchase entire quantity of kapas (FAQ grade) offered by the cotton farmers in various Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) market yards at MSP rates.

The export of Cotton at present is under Open General License. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, being the facilitator for the  Import  and  Export  of  Cotton,  vide  notification  No.  102(RE-2013)/  2009-14  dated 08.12.2014 has dispensed with the registration requirement for Export of Cotton.

Further, the export incentives i.e., drawback of 1% is available for export of raw cotton falling under Tariff item 5201 vide Notification No. 110/2015 - CUSTOMS (N.T.) dated 16.11.2015 issued by Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

## ANNEXURE-I

## STATE - WISE BT. COTTON AREA DURING LAST 3 YEARS & CURRENT YEAR

(Area in Lakh hactare)

| STATE                       | 2013-14   |   2014-15 |   2015-16 |   2016-17* |
|-----------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|------------|
| Andhra Pradesh              | 23.65     |      7.88 |      6.5  |       2.82 |
| Telangana                   |           |     16.01 |     16.61 |      11.1  |
| Madhya Pradesh              | 4.40      |      5.2  |      4.86 |       4.73 |
| Gujarat                     | 21.25     |     27.13 |     26.23 |      16.3  |
| Maharashtra                 | 37.72     |     40.1  |     34.4  |      30.82 |
| Karnataka                   | 5.63      |      6.97 |      4.87 |       2.15 |
| Tamil Nadu                  | 1.30      |      1.58 |      0.9  |       0.02 |
| Punjab                      | 4.24      |      4.08 |      3.05 |       2.43 |
| Haryana                     | 4.67      |      6.31 |      5.27 |       3.64 |
| Rajasthan                   | 2.50      |      3.95 |      3.56 |       2.43 |
| Total Bt. Area              | 105.36    |    119.21 |    106.25 |      76.44 |
| All India total Cotton Area | 119.60    |    128.19 |    118.72 |      92.33 |
| %of Total Bt. Area          | 88.09     |     92.99 |     89.49 |      82.79 |

* Area sown during cotton season 2016-17 till 28.7.2016

Source:- Directorate of Cotton Development, Nagpur

*******

## ANNEXURE-II

## STATE WISE TARGET AND PRODUCTION OF MAJOR COTTON GROWING STATES DURING 2012-13 TO 2015-16

(Production in lakh bales of 170 kgs. each)

| STATE          | 2012-13   | 2012-13    | 2013-14   | 2013-14    | 2014-15   | 2014-15    | 2015-16*   | 2015-16*   |
|----------------|-----------|------------|-----------|------------|-----------|------------|------------|------------|
| STATE          | Target    | Production | Target    | Production | Target    | Production | Target     | Production |
| Andhra Pradesh | 50.00     | 73.50      | 61.00     | 69.56      | 61.00     | 28.41      | 62.00      | 24.00      |
| Telangana      |           |            |           |            |           | 38.00      |            | 38.60      |
| Gujarat        | 120.00    | 88.50      | 108.00    | 101.50     | 108.00    | 105.00     | 108.00     | 97.00      |
| Haryana        | 26.50     | 25.00      | 23.00     | 23.02      | 23.00     | 23.00      | 23.00      | 13.50      |
| Karnataka      | 12.00     | 12.55      | 11.00     | 18.75      | 11.00     | 23.11      | 11.50      | 16.00      |
| Madhya Pradesh | 20.00     | 22.00      | 17.00     | 17.30      | 17.00     | 17.50      | 17.00      | 20.98      |
| Maharashtra    | 73.00     | 76.55      | 87.00     | 88.34      | 87.00     | 70.00      | 87.00      | 65.00      |
| Orissa         | 3.50      | 4.00       | 4.00      | 2.99       | 4.00      | 4.00       | 4.00       | 4.00       |
| Punjab         | 23.00     | 20.00      | 22.00     | 19.68      | 22.00     | 16.00      | 22.00      | 4.50       |
| Rajasthan      | 13.35     | 14.00      | 13.00     | 12.87      | 13.00     | 15.27      | 13.00      | 13.20      |
| Tamil Nadu     | 5.00      | 5.00       | 3.00      | 4.08       | 3.00      | 6.86       | 3.00       | 3.69       |
| Others         | 3.65      | 1.10       | 1.00      | 0.93       | 1.00      | 0.90       | 1.00       | 1.00       |
| All-India      | 350.00    | 342.20     | 350.00    | 359.02     | 350.00    | 348.05     | 351.50     | 301.47     |