AS THEIR counterparts elsewhere discuss genetically modified crop and its fallouts, the cotton farmers in Vidarbha and most of Maharashtra would be grateful if the Government could organise for them something much simpler: payments on time, punctual procurement and fair grading at purchase centres. Unlike other states, Bt cotton isn’t likely to bring that extra cheer to the state farmer, no matter whether the Monopoly Cotton Procurement Scheme (MCPS) remains or not. If the scheme continues, the government would find it more difficult to pay for the extra yield that the variety promises. And if the scheme goes, the low market price will prevent the gains from going up. Ask him about Bt cotton, and Gajanan Bansule from Deoli Peth in Nagpur district brushes you aside with: ‘‘Why should we increase production when we aren’t being paid on time for what we are producing now? Today the best variety is trashed as fadtar and kawdi (low grades) under government instructions and we are paid peanuts (between Rs 670 and Rs 1,050 per quintal). “Do you expect us to multiply losses by increasing production? No way. I may replace cotton with something else next year.’’ Most others at the procurement centre in Butibori near here agree with Bansule. Dnyaneshwar Marwatkar of Bahulgaon village says: ‘‘All new varieties, like Bunny 145 and Tulsi, have failed within two-three years of their inception. I have heard about Bt cotton. Let me see how it fares.’’ Laxminarayan Pathak, a progressive farmer from Seloo in Wardha district, isn’t enthused either, despite Mahyco growing Bt cotton on half-acre trial plot in his field. ‘‘The yield there was four quintals sans bollworm, while the non-Bt variety gave me three quintals despite suffering a virulent pest attack,’’ he argues. Pathak reveals: ‘‘The bollworm attack this year was so strong that the Mahyco people themselves sprayed four rounds.’’
