NRAFORD, Thallapusalapally Village, Kesamudram Mandal, Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh, India.

GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee) of Ministry of Environment and Forests of Government of India sanctioned commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) Bt (Bacillus Thuringiensis) Cotton from the Kharif season of the year 2002-03 amidst raging controversies. On one hand, certain environmentalists of the country are tooth and nail opposing the cultivation. On the other hand, companies like Mayhco-Monsanto alliance and some indigenous alliances of breeders are keen to promote cultivation of Bt Cotton. Scientists like Norman Borlaug, the pioneer of Green Revolution also expressed the need for adoption of transgenic crops in countries like India (Borlaug 2002). ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) has also recently certified that cultivation of Bt Cotton is found to be safe as per its own trials. Government, Media, Researchers and experts are busy in expressing their opinions on this issue. Andhra Pradesh is an important region as far as cultivation of cotton is considered a

Attempts were made to ascertain if there is any visible environmental damage caused by Bt gene to worms, insects, butterflies or birds. Physical inspection as well as enquiries made with farmers revealed that there is no visible damage caused due to Bt gene to the environment. However, it may be stated that growth of Bt Cotton being on a minor fraction of the total acreage under cultivation ( in fact only 4 to 5 acres per village), effects on environment because of large scale cultivation could not be studied.

Practical experiences reveal that there is not much reduction in expenditure on pesticides and apparently this is be due to lack of awareness on part of the farmers or due to the fact that Bt Cotton is grown over a minor fraction of the total area under cotton cultivation and farmers were spraying same amount of pesticide on all the fields irrespective of the fact whether Bt Cotton or non Bt Cotton is grown.

Some topics in this essay:
Bt Cotton, MNCs Monsanto, Bt Technology, Punjab Singh, Regions Europe, Mahyco-Monsanto Alliance, Yielding Varieties, Andhra Pradesh, Cornejo McBride, Cotton Considerations, bt cotton, cultivation bt, pest attack, research institutions, cultivation bt cotton, countries india, public research, gm technology, genetically modified, public research institutions, genetic engineering, cotton cultivation, political sovereignty economic, acreage cotton cultivation, pest attack severe,