Adoption of Insect Resistance Management Practices in Bt-Cotton Cultivation in India

Abstract

Cotton is one of the important crops on which more than four million farmers in India depend for their livelihood. Though India has become the top country in terms of cotton production globally, the crop has become a matter of concern due to surge in pink bollworm (PBW) incidence in the recent past. Cotton crop has high pesticide usages than any other crop, however, pest incidence is reported to be increasing due to resistance developed against the pesticides. Several interventions have been suggested to combat the PBW infestation, collectively called as Insect Resistance Management (IRM) practice. Attempts have been made to disseminate the practice among the farmers to minimise the losses in cotton production. In order to ascertain the level of adoption of these IRM measures among the farmers and their effectiveness, the study was undertaken on request received from Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Private Limited. The study necessitated primary survey of cotton farmers and ginners. For the purpose, the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka were selected and in all, 611 farmers were surveyed. Eleven practices were identified which are considered as IRM measures to assess the level of adoption of IRM. The effectiveness and the benefits due to the adoption of the practices were studied.