Andhra Pradesh   

Survey reveals Bt cotton growers are flourishing

HYDERABAD: Growers of Bt cotton in Andhra Pradesh have earned about Rs. 700 crore as an additional income during 2006-07, according to a study commissioned by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

Releasing the survey results here on Thursday, ASSOCHAM secretary-general D. S. Rawat said that 960 farmers from Warangal, Adilabad, Medak, Guntur, Khammam and Karimnagar districts were interviewed for the survey. IMRB and Indicus, two independent agencies, conducted the survey.

Those who had grown Bt cotton earned higher incomes and their household income and family conditions had improved substantially. Increased maternal care services like anti-natal checkups, access to services by trained paramedical and nursing personnel, larger school enrolment and other such improvements in quality of life were found among the Bt cotton growers as compared to those growing non-Bt cotton.

Children in the Bt cotton growers’ families had been vaccinated for polio and received complete immunisation. Villages where Bt cotton was being grown had benefited due to increased access to services such as telephone systems, electricity, drinking water, better internet connectivity, banking, and markets and shopping. Socio-economic progress was a major indicator that perched the growers of BT cotton for more than two years as compared to those who had not been into cultivating BT cotton .

The IMRPB survey indicated that the Bt cotton growers earned a net revenue of Rs. 4,938 per acre which transformed into a benefit of 217 per cent in gross revenue.

The use of pesticide was 1.43 times less by the BT cotton farmers compared to those outside its ambit. The input costs had also shown a significant decline, said IMRB Director Sanjiv Chaudhary and Laweesh Bhandari of Indicus.

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