Cotton crisis in Punjab: How regulatory hurdles might be making things worse
By yash chouhan 2025-03-04 11:06:29
Punjab's cotton crisis: How potential regulatory obstacles could be exacerbating the situation
In recent years, whiteflies and pink bollworms have wreaked havoc on the cotton crop in North India. Cotton yields are down, as is the area under cotton cultivation — the crop was cultivated in only one lakh hectares in Punjab in 2024, down from nearly eight lakh hectares three decades back. The drop in acreage has in turn harmed the ginning industry — only 22 ginning units remain operational in Punjab today, down from 422 in 2004.
Ahead of the cotton sowing season, farmers are thus calling for the swift approval of Bollgard-3, a new pest-resistant genetically-modified (GM) cotton variety developed by Monsanto. Can this be a game-changer? The short answer is that it can be. But Indians won’t have access to it any time soon.
Bollgard-3, a Bt cotton variety Bollgard-3 was developed by Monsanto more than a decade ago, and shows remarkable resistance to pests. It contains three Bt proteins Cry1Ac, Cry2Ab and Vip3A that cause insect death by disrupting their normal gut function. This in turn allows for the growth of a healthier cotton crop, and increases yield.
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a soil-dwelling bacterium with potent insecticidal properties. In the past few decades, researchers have successfully inserted certain genes from Bt in various crops, like cotton, providing these with insect-repellent properties.
Bollgard-1 was a Monsanto-developed Bt cotton introduced in India in 2002, followed by Bollgard-2 in 2006. The latter remains prevalent today. And although these do have some pest-repellent properties, they are not effective against the whitefly and the pink bollworm, which arrived in Punjab in 2015-16 and 2018-19 respectively.
This is why farmers are demanding the introduction of Bollgard-3, which is particularly effective against lepidopteran pests like pink bollworm.
BG-2RRF, a more likely option
However, Bollgard-3 is not available in India at the moment, although it is being used in other cotton-growing countries around the world. What is the closer to being available is the Bollgard-2 Roundup Ready Flex (BG-2RRF) herbicide tolerant variety, although even this is pending final regulatory approval.
Dr Y G Prasad, director at ICAR’s Central Institute for Cotton Research in Nagpur, said: “Both government and private trials for BG-2RRF were conducted in India in 2012-13… But the application for commercial use is still pending with the government.”
Prasad said that BG-2RRF is an advanced seed technology that makes the cotton crop more tolerant to herbicides. This allows for farmers to better control weeds without harming the cotton plant, ultimately leading to better yields.
“However, the approval of the technology has been significantly delayed due to regulatory hurdles, which have hindered the introduction of next-generation seed technologies,” Bhagirath said.
This is why Bhagwan Bansal, president of the Punjab Ginners’ Association, said that without high-yielding, pest-resistant varieties like Bollgard-3, the future of Punjab’s cotton industry remains uncertain. Many countries in the world are already adopting these (and even more advanced technologies) and reaping the rewards.
Atul Ganatra, president of the Cotton Association of India (CAI), said that Brazil is using Bollgard-5, a variety which protects against multiple pests, weeds, and insects. This has led to the South American country achieving astronomical yields of 2400 kg per hectare, compared to only 450 kg in India.
