PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF Bt COTTON IN RAINFED AREAS

2. “PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF Bt COTTON IN
RAINFED AREAS”
Siddu Malakannavar
M.Sc. (Agronomy)
2

3. • Cotton is considered as an important fibre crop of
India and world wide.
• It is the backbone of textile industries mainly
because of its lint.
• It contributes 85% of raw material to textile
industry
• It earns about 33% of total foreign exchange
Introduction

4. Cotton scenario
(Cotton Advisory Board 2019-20)
• Cotton is a subtropical crop which is mainly cultivating for it’s natural
fiber
• India has unique place among the cotton growing countries of the
world
• India
Area:122.38 lakh ha
Production: 361 lakh bales
Productivity: 501 kg lint ha-1
 Out of total area, 67.7% cotton is under rainfed conditions

5. Source : AICRPD
Rainfed cotton region in India

6. Important advantages of Bt cotton
• Increase in yield
• Protection from bollworms
• Reduction in pesticide use
• Reduction in cost of cultivation
• Reduction in environmental pollution
• No adverse effect on parasites, predators and
beneficial insects
• No health hazards

7. Prospects of bt Cotton
Growing of Bt cotton can increase the yield over
local checks.
Reduce the cost of cultivation by
Adoption of Bt cotton helped cotton farmers to
earn extra 770 crores income- indication the
bright future for Bt cotton
Bt cotton will reduce pesticide usage by 2260
MT of pesticide.

8. Problems of cotton production in
rainfed area
• Soils are poor in fertility
• Uncertainty and vagaries of monsoon
• Moisture stress
• Farmers in this area are resource poor and
therefore not in a position to invest more
• Cultivation is done traditionally with bullock
drawn implements and by manual labour
• There are more weeds, pests and disease problems
due to uncontrollable rain and soil problems.

9. Enhancement of Bt cotton production in
rainfed area

10. Moisture conservation practices
The effectiveness of in situ water conservation
is a function of interaction between climate,
soil and crop plant characteristic
Harvest maximum rain water and adopt methods to
maximise the retention of moisture.

11. Seed hardening
 Definition: The process of hydrating the seed to initiate the pre-
germinating metabolism followed by dehydration which fixes the
biochemicals events
 Purpose: To impart resistant against stress conditions like drought
and cold , to the emerging seedling
 Chemicals used: CaCl2 , KCL , KH2PO4 etc.

12. A: CaCl₂ (2%) Seed hardened cotton plot at 8 DAS B: Cotton control plot at 8 DAS
CaCl₂ (2%) seed hardened cotton plot and Cotton control plot at 15 DAS

13. Mulching
• Losses caused by drought stress is more than caused any other
environmental factor(Khan et al., 2010)
• Mulching is the practice of covering the soil surface to make
favorable conditions for plant growth and development
• The main objective of mulching is water saving and weed control
• Other uses like minimize the water runoff, increase infiltration

14. Enhancement of soil fertility
In rainfed area Soils are poor in fertility
• Addition manures and fertilizers
• Addition green manures
• Foliar spray of nutrients

15. Cotton with Sunhemp at 45 DAS before

16. Variety & spacing
Selection of variety
• Drought resistance
• Early maturing
• Resistance to pest and disease
• High yielding
Optimum spacing
• Efficient use of nutrients
• Good penetration of light
• Convenient for cultural operations

17. Use of growth regulators
 Plant growth regulators viz., promoters, retardants
 Play an important key role in internal control mechanism
of plant growth
 Interacting with key metabolic processes such as nucleic
acid and protein synthesis
 Plant growth regulators are capable of increasing yield