What is Bt cotton in India?
Bt cotton is a genetically modified pest resistant plant cotton variety, which produces an insecticide to combat bollworm.
Is Bt cotton allowed in India?
Cotton is the only GM crop allowed to be cultivated in India. However, farmers can only grow the BT (Bacillus thuringenisis) cotton that can naturally protect itself against natural pest – the pink bollworm.
In which year Bt cotton is approved in India?
2002
Bt cotton is the only genetically modified (GM) crop that has been approved for commercial cultivation in 2002 by the Government of India. Long term studies were conducted by ICAR on the impact of Bt cotton which did not show any adverse effect on soil, microflora and animal health.
What is the main feature of Bt cotton?
Bt cotton has the following useful characteristics : pest resistance, herbicide tolerance, high yield and resistance to boll worm infestation.
Who is father of Bt cotton in India?
NAGPUR: Every morning, Vijay Atmaram Ingle thanks his stars for having agreed to conduct the first Bt cotton trials in India in 1997-98. The success landed him and his village, Chitalwadi in Akola district, on the Bt cotton map of world.
What is Bt cotton used for?
Insect-resistant genetically modified cotton, also known as Bt cotton, was developed using a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Bt cotton enables the plant to produce the Bt protein, which kills cotton’s major pest—Heliothis or the cotton bollworm—when it eats the leaves.
Why only Bt cotton is grown in India?
The aim of introducing Bt cotton to India was to reduce the amount of insecticide needed in farming cotton. Since the introduction of this plant, Bt cotton has been adopted widely across India.
Why did Bt cotton fail in India?
Bt cotton is unlikely to work for more than a few years in India because it is fundamentally at odds with the agricultural and climatic conditions here. Insects are likely to develop resistance quite fast, making the variety useless in a few years.
Which state is the largest producer of Bt cotton in India?
The state of Maharashtra showed the highest area under Bt cotton in 2006- 07, though the proportion of area under Bt to total cotton area in this state was nearly 36 per cent during this year.
Who discovered Bt cotton?
Ernst Berliner isolated a bacteria that had killed a Mediterranean flour moth in 1911, and rediscovered Bt. He named it Bacillus thuringiensis, after the German town Thuringia where the moth was found.
Which state is first in cotton production in India?
Gujarat is the leading cotton growing State followed by Maharashtra.
What is the current status of Bt cotton in India?
From a low initial uptake in 2002, Bt cotton has spread to over 93% of the cotton area by 2012 covering 11.2 million hectares. After touching 12.85 million hectares in 2014-15, cotton area subsequently declined in India to around 10.5 million hectares by 2016-17 mainly due to pest attacks (whitefly, pink bollworm etc.).
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Bt cotton?
Advantages of Bt-cotton •Yield superiority •More profit •Lesser need of pesticide •Better quality •Suitability for early sowing 17. Disadvantages •Higher cost of seeds •Higher fertilizer and irrigation cost •Higher harvest cost 18. Bt cotton in India •India is the largest cotton producer and consumer country after China.
What is Bt cotton made of?
Bt cotton was created by genetically altering the cotton genome to express a microbial protein from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis.
What is the current situation of cotton crop in India?
After touching 12.85 million hectares in 2014-15, cotton area subsequently declined in India to around 10.5 million hectares by 2016-17 mainly due to pest attacks (whitefly, pink bollworm etc.).