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NAGPUR: Next cotton sowing season may bring some tough competition for manufacturers of genetically modified Bt cotton operating through a tie-up with US multinational Monsanto. The company has been dominating cotton farming, which in turn has been at a vulnerable area for Vidarbha’s farmers.

Government’s Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) has secured approval for 3 varieties of indigenous Bt seeds suitable for the northern states. In next fortnight, 4-5 seeds each, suitable for the central and southern states of the country, will be put up for approval, before Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).

CICR, an agency located in the city, hopes that by next season, 11 Indian Bt seeds will be available in the market at much lower rates. The biggest advantage is that the farmer need not buy a fresh bag of seeds each sowing season. The seeds can be derived from the previous year’s crop itself which is not possible in Monsanto. Each year, bags worth over Rs800 each have to be purchased.

The CICR crop has a shorter duration too, which means the cotton will be ready to harvest by November, reducing cost of maintenance.

“The CICR has developed Bt varieties instead of hybrids like Monsanto using the Mon531. The US company does not have any patent on Mon531. Out of the 20 varieties developed, 11 are expected to be out in the next season,” said Dr Keshav Kranthi , the CICR’s director. This is expected to change the dynamics of cotton farming. Cotton growers of the region have been vulnerable to losses.

The CICR seeds are an equivalent of the Bollgard, first launched by Monsanto in 2002. Now the US multinational has an advanced version Bollgard-2 on which it has a patent with plans to have Bollgard-3 too.

Kranthi said the CICR Bt will have its own advantage on the basis of which it can be pitched against the current version of Bollgard II seeds by Monsanto.

The Bt seeds are genetically engineered to develop immunity against bollworm a common pest damaging the cotton crop. However, recently Bollgard II’s latest version was seen not working against the pink bollworm variety.

Both CICR and Bollgard are effective against the American bollworm, which normally strikes the cotton plant. Due to its shorter duration, the CICR Bt crop is ready before the time the pink bollworm strikes giving a dual advantage, said Kranthi

The crop grown out of the CICR seed is ready in 160 to 170 days as against the gestation ranging form 210 to 240 days in Bollgard. This, apart from skipping the pink bollworm attack, reduces the cost of maintenance due to the shorter term, said Kranthi.

The same seeds derived from the crop can be used for sowing too, which is not possible in Bollgard. In CICR’s variety, all the seeds in a cotton boll have the resistant gene due to which it can be reused, said Kranthi.

