PARADIGM SHIFT FROM NON-BT TO BT COTTON AND FACTORS CONDUCING BT COTTON PRODUCTION IN A SOUTHERN PUNJAB’S DISTRICT OF PAKISTAN

摘要

Pakistan is one of the developing countries and major portion of its economy depends on agriculture. The study aimwas to identify the different factors affecting the adoption of Bt cotton and analysis of paradigm shift from Non-Bt to Btcotton in tehsil Jatoi of Muzaffargarh district, which provided a guideline for extension organizations to develop betterstrategies in future for effective extension work towards Bt cotton production. The data were collected from 120 Btcotton growers through random sampling technique. The data were analyzed through Statistical Package for SocialSciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations and rank orderwere used for interpretation of the data. The study revealed that maximum respondents were belonging to the middleage group, agriculture and livestock farming were their source of income and their maximum cultivation was underNon-Bt cotton. Cotton growers were highly dependent on pesticide companies for agricultural information. The highercrop yield was the major factor which shifted the farmers to grow Bt cotton. Unapproved Bt, high fertilizer requirementand non-availability of seed were the threatening factors being faced in Bt cotton cultivation, ranked at medium scale.Opportunities of less use of pesticides, increase in production and net annual income, reduction in health hazards, lesscost of production and availability of certified seeds was generated by the cultivation of Bt cotton, was recorded atmedium scale.