1.Review Bt cotton, orders Maharashtra govt
2.Mystery strangler killing Bt cotton in Punjab
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1.Review Bt cotton, orders state govt
Sharad Vyas
The Times of India, July 21 2012
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Review-Bt-cotton-orders-state-govt/articleshow/15066483.cms

MUMBAI: The state government is seriously considering switching from genetically modified (GM) cotton to more conventional cotton seeds. A plan to phase out and look for alternatives of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton is being chalked out by leading state agricultural universities with the help of private companies.

The government has, in fact, been cracking down on firms supplying sub-standard seeds and has been taking action against Mahyco Monsanto Biotech, which sub-licences the use of Bollgard I and II technologies to 28 Indian firms. 

The state agriculture department recently served a show-cause notice on Mahyco, asking why it should not be banned from supplying and distributing cotton seeds, as it was providing wrong information to the government. It led to speculation that the DF government began the process to ban Bt cotton. 

"There has been a question mark on the use of Bt cotton in Maharashtra for long. I have directed a comprehensive review of Bt cotton. Experts will closely examine and critically reassess its use," agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil told ToI, adding that farmers will be better off using traditional varieties of cotton seeds.

The use of Bt cotton has resulted in a stagnant yield as there is a question mark on whether the marginal land of Vidarbha land is suited for Bt cotton. It has led to the evolution of new pest and disease attacks, Patil said. The universities have been told to assess the BG-1 and BG-2 Bt seeds for resistance capabilities. against cotton bollworm species, Spotted Bollworm, American Bollworm and Spodoptera Litura. The two varieties are widely used in the state.

"We need a better variety of Bt cotton for rain-fed cotton immediately," state officials said. Since 2005, Bt is causing "crop failure", resulting in a loss of Rs2,000 crore annually. "

We welcome the decision but it is unlikely that it will be implemented," said Kishor Tiwari, founder, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti. There is a demand for about 160 lakh packets annually in the 27 cotton-growing regions of Maharashtra; of this, the state this year supplied 155 lakh packets.

A decade ago, Monsanto was allowed experimental cultivation of (bollworm-resistant) GM cotton on 10,000 hectares in the country. Several states allowed commercial cultivation trials in rain-fed cotton-growing regions, which led to an agrarian crisis of sorts with increased cost and stagnant yield. The black-marketing of seeds is also widespread in the state.
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2.Mystery strangler killing cotton in Bathinda
Global Sikh News, 20 July 2012
http://sikhsangat.org/1699/mystery-strangler-killing-cotton-in-bathinda/

Bathinda, Punjab: The Bt-cotton crop in Punjab is under the suspected attack of a new disease. After more than a year of study, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) is still unable to tell which enemy is it that turns part of the cotton-plant stem black. The district agriculture department has advised farmers cure for root rots, another disease that starts from roots.

The farmers who noticed stems turning black before the plants went dead asked the district agriculture department for help. The samples of the affected plants are under examination at the PAU. It isn’t the first investigation of these symptoms.

Similar symptoms appeared last year on cotton plants at a village near Abohar. The Central Institute for Cotton Research at Nagpur, Maharashtra, besides the PAU, studied the samples. “Scientists failed to reach any conclusion at that time,” said Jaspal Gill, director of the PAUregional centre in Bathinda. “The suspected new disease was limited to a negligible area but now the symptoms are over more areas of the cotton belt.”

It is still not an epidemic but another headache for sure for cotton farmers. Any new disease means a higher input cost. “We have advised farmers to apply the cure for root rot, if they face this problem,” said district agricultural information officer KK Singla. “In the initial stage, they can try insecticide Baviston on cotton, but if the damage is almost complete, it’s better to uproot and dispose of the plant properly to contain the spread.”

The disease works as if someone had strangulated the stem and blocked the feed to the upper portion of the plant. As in strangulation, the result is death.

Apart from the mystery disease, mealy bug also has taken fancy to the cotton crop, and the treatment advised is the same. Cobalt chloride can help farmers combat parawilt. Some damage to the cotton crop has occurred because of less rainfall in the region.