Herbicide tolerant cotton not a panacea, only ecological disaster

Once the world's largest cotton producer and exporter, India has witnessed a significant drop in cotton production due to a sharp decline in its area of cultivation over the last five years.

- Dr VIRENDER SINGH LATHER, Former Principal Scientist, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi

During the period between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the country's CAGR (compound annual growth rate) for area and production of cotton recorded a negative growth of (-) 4.12 percent and (-) 3.70 percent, respectively. Cotton production during this phase fell from 352.48 lakh bales to 306.92 lakh bales.

The reason for the decline in the area of cultivation is primarily attributed to the failure of Bt cotton against pink bollworms and other insect pests, which make it economically less attractive compared to low-risk and highly remunerative crops like maize, rice, sugarcane, etc. Further, climate change-induced irregularity of the monsoon has also added to the instability of cotton yield.

Despite the declaration of a minimum support price (MSP), price volatility in the cotton market further compounds the problem. Farmers are compelled to sell at prices below the MSP due to a lack of 'legal guarantee,' which disincentivizes cotton cultivation. Adding to the problem, a sharp increase in the prices of Bt cotton seeds, pesticides, and labor without any significant yield gains during the last decade has made cotton an economically unviable option for farmers in agriculturally progressive zones.

Now, farmers prefer switching from cotton to soybean, pulses, maize, rice, sugarcane, etc., in central and southern zones and direct-seeded rice (DSR), maize, and mung bean in northwestern regions. The per-hectare national average cotton yield of about 0.5 tonnes is not economically viable compared to over 6 tonnes of rice and maize.