Government will soon decide BT cottonseed price for 2026-27
By yash chouhan 2026-03-24 13:03:08
Government to notify Bt cottonseed price cap for 2026-27 soon
The Union Agriculture Ministry will soon notify the maximum retail price (MRP) of Bt cottonseed price for Bolgard I and II varieties for the upcoming kharif season, as sowing is to commence.
Taking a cue from past instance, there may not be an increase in the maximum price this year, however a final decision will be taken at top level, industry sources said.
Last year, the government fixed the MRP of Bolgard II at ₹900/packet (of 450 gram), up from ₹864/packet in 2024-25. The MRP of Bolgard I remains at ₹635/packet since price control of Bt cotton seed was introduced in 2016.
“There was a precedence in 2019-20 when the MRP of Bolgard II was kept unchanged at ₹710/packe. Since the last year’s MRP saw a hike of over 4 per cent compared with only 1 per cent hike in 2024-25, non-increase in price may not impact the industry much,” said an industry source.
Legal obligation
The government is currently holding stakeholders meeting on the issue of Bt cotton MRP and sources said that it is a legal obligation under the Cotton Seeds Price (Control) Order, 2015 to notify the MRP each year whether there is an increase or not.
But, the RSS affiliate Bharatiya Kisan Sangh recently opposed fixing MRP for Bt cotton, saying due to the price fixation of Bt cotton seeds the non-GM cotton is getting sold at ₹300-400/packet. It said that since the pest resistance capacity (to PBW) of Bt cotton is questionable, there is no need to declare price for Bt cotton.
However, official sources said that the MRP was first fixed in 2016 and the need for it was felt after farmers were sold Bt cottonseeds at much higher rates. There is a fear that if prices are not fixed, farmers may again be charged higher, the sources said adding it is the maximum cap and not a floor price.
95 per cent area under Bt cotton
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha last month, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Ramnath Thakur said that about 95 per cent area under cotton cultivation is occupied by Bt cotton.
However, he also said that pink bollworm (PBW) has developed resistance against Bt protein and is becoming a major pest in all cotton-growing areas. At the same time the minister admitted that Bt cotton has continued to control one major cotton pest [American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera)].
Sucking pests are also surging in the cotton ecosystem over the years, he said adding farmers now spend more on pesticides than during initial period of Bt-cotton introduction.
Bt-cotton adoption is shown to be a poor indicator of yield trends, he said and added that it was a strong indicator of initial reductions in pesticide use.
