An economic analysis of production and marketing of Bt cotton, American cotton and desi cotton in Sirsa district of Haryana.

摘要

The study was conducted purposively in the Sirsa district of Haryana state to find out the costs and returns of Bt cotton, American cotton and desi cotton; to examine the price spread in marketing of cotton through the different channels; and to identify the constraints in the adoption of Bt cotton. The average yield for Bt cotton was found 7.24 q per acre, while that of American cotton the average yield was 5.40 q per acre. The average yield for desi cotton was found about 4 q per acre. The net returns over the total cost for Bt cotton available were Rs. 3,461 per acre, while the net returns for American cotton were Rs.1,510 per acre which were just half of the returns for Bt cotton. The net returns over the total cost for desi cotton were only Rs. 598 per acre which were very less in comparison of returns for Bt and American cotton. The farmers spent much for the seed cost used for Bt cotton and paid Rs. 950 to 1100 for 900 g seed (2 packets, each of 450 g) used in an acre. On the other hand, they spent Rs. 200 and 175 for 5 kg of seed used in an acre for American and desi cotton, respectively. The total arrivals of Bt and American cotton from September to March were 4.86 lakh q, whereas the arrivals of desi cotton were only 5503 q and it was due to less area under the desi cotton. The price received for Bt and American cotton by the farmer was Rs. 2,141/q in the month of September and Rs. 2,242/q in the month of October and so on. The maximum price was observed in the month of March which was Rs. 2,675/q. But on an average, the average price received by the farmer was Rs.2,391/q. Regarding constraints in the adoption of Bt cotton, an overwhelming majority of the respondents (92%) reported about the spurious quality of insecticides in the market. Farmers had the fear of attack of milibug on the cotton crop (88%). Whereas 86% of the respondents faced the problem of non-availability of good quality of seed for Bt cotton. Majority of the farmers (78%) reported about the different seed prices charged for Bt cotton by the different companies. Farmers had fear in mind of being cheated in purchase of Bt cotton seed. There was no difference in the sale price of Bt cotton and American cotton, though the seed price of Bt cotton was quite high as reported by majority of the farmers (68%).