Cotton crisis in Punjab: How regulatory hurdles might be making things worse

Bollgard-3, a Bt cotton variety

Bollgard-3 was developed by Monsanto more than a decade ago, and shows remarkable resistance to pests. It contains three Bt proteins Cry1Ac, Cry2Ab and Vip3A that cause insect death by disrupting their normal gut function. This in turn allows for the growth of a healthier cotton crop, and increases yield.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a soil-dwelling bacterium with potent insecticidal properties. In the past few decades, researchers have successfully inserted certain genes from Bt in various crops, like cotton, providing these with insect-repellent properties.

Bollgard-1 was a Monsanto-developed Bt cotton introduced in India in 2002, followed by Bollgard-2 in 2006. The latter remains prevalent today. And although these do have some pest-repellent properties, they are not effective against the whitefly and the pink bollworm, which arrived in Punjab in 2015-16 and 2018-19 respectively.

This is why farmers are demanding the introduction of Bollgard-3, which is particularly effective against lepidopteran pests like pink bollworm.

BG-2RRF, a more likely option

However, Bollgard-3 is not available in India at the moment, although it is being used in other cotton-growing countries around the world. What is the closer to being available is the Bollgard-2 Roundup Ready Flex (BG-2RRF) herbicide tolerant variety, although even this is pending final regulatory approval.

Dr Y G Prasad, director at ICAR’s Central Institute for Cotton Research in Nagpur, said: “Both government and private trials for BG-2RRF were conducted in India in 2012-13… But the application for commercial use is still pending with the government.”

Prasad said that BG-2RRF is an advanced seed technology that makes the cotton crop more tolerant to herbicides. This allows for farmers to better control weeds without harming the cotton plant, ultimately leading to better yields.

Bhagirath Choudhary, founder-director of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC) in Jodhpur, said that BG-2RRF could serve as a potential “gateway” for the development of next-generation seed technologies. He also said that the variety’s adoption could reduce risk of pest attacks by killing the weeds which host these pests, and by doing so, could make cotton farming more economically viable than it has been in the past few years.

“However, the approval of the technology has been significantly delayed due to regulatory hurdles, which have hindered the introduction of next-generation seed technologies,” Bhagirath said.

Immediate solutions, long-term problem

At the end of the day, even as farmers express their frustration regarding the pace of regulatory approvals, the fact of the matter is that farmers will have to make do with what they have, at least for the time being.

Dr Prasad said that adopting proper agronomic practices, such as proper seeding and mulching, can help increase cotton yields. Dr Bhagirath, on the other hand, pointed to methods such as high-density planting (sowing more plants in a unit area), and drip fertigation (which optimises water and fertiliser use). That said, pest management remains a challenge.

This is why Bhagwan Bansal, president of the Punjab Ginners’ Association, said that without high-yielding, pest-resistant varieties like Bollgard-3, the future of Punjab’s cotton industry remains uncertain. Many countries in the world are already adopting these (and even more advanced technologies) and reaping the rewards.

Atul Ganatra, president of the Cotton Association of India (CAI), said that Brazil is using Bollgard-5, a variety which protects against multiple pests, weeds, and insects. This has led to the South American country achieving astronomical yields of 2400 kg per hectare, compared to only 450 kg in India.

“In India, we are getting a profit margin of only 15%, and that too on a bumper harvest, with no pest attack. In Brazil, the profit margin is 85% of the input cost,” Ganatra said.