"In A Few Years, Farmers Will Have Control Over Seeds"

Dr Keshav Raj Kranthi, director, Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), is confident that Indian farmers will not lose out if global seed giant Monsanto decides to carry out its threat of quitting the country. In an interview with Outlook, Kranthi states that alte­rnatives already in the works will help farmers get back control over the seeds without sacrificing productivity.

What will happen if Monsanto decides to quit India as they have threatened?

In my view, it may take a short while to realign ourselves to the new conditions but we are geared up to develop new systems that will give us better yield.We had anticipated the present situation of pink bollworm resistance to Bt-cotton several years back because of two factors­—the long duration of the hybrid cotton crop and the segregation of the Bt toxins in seeds of the green bolls of the hybrid plants. To obtain high yields in a sustainabe manner, In­di­a needs to move towards high density planting of short duration varieties in rainfed conditions and preferably towards medium-duration var­ieties for irrigated conditions. We tested this concept successfully over the past three years with a few new short duration non-Bt varieties to escape bollworms and obtain high yields.

What is the advantage of a short- or medium-duration crop?

A short- or medium-duration crop escapes the American bollworm and the pink bollworm, the two major pests, thus reducing the need for pesticides. It also enables the crop to obtain soil moisture and nutrients at the most critical period of flowering and boll formation, resulting in higher yields.

What is the alternative that has been developed for India’s cotton growers, who have switched to Bt cotton more or less across the country?

Over the past six years, we developed 61 pureline varieties, with and without Bt, which have been shortlisted to 10 non-Bt and 10 Bt of short-duration varieties, which will all be tested this year by the state agriculture universities in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telan­gana. Two states—Maha­rashtra and Telangana—account for 50 per cent of the area under cotton cultivation in the country. If we click here, we click for India. I am supremely hopeful that in the next 5-6 years farmers will again have control over their seeds.

How soon do you think farmers will be able to have access to the seeds your institute is developing?

As of now, this season we are going to conduct multi-location tests. Depe­nding on the results, we are going to multiply the best varieties—which will be available to a few thousand farmers in 2017. And hopefully, by 2018, it will be completely open as there are government agencies and several private seed companies eager to multiply the varieties for us.

How will your seeds compare with Bt cotton in price?

For a variety, the production cost is nothing: just Rs. 20 /kg. For farmers it will be a boon as they will be able to use it for 3-4 years without having to buy new seeds.