S. S. Kalamkar

Promoting Organized Retail in Horticulture and Beneficial Impact on Farmers—The Case of Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemicals Limited

Diversification of agriculture has brought about increased production of several agricultural commodities, which in turn have brought about new challenges to handle in terms of huge marketable surplus. India, now ranks second in the production of fruits and vegetables and policy makers have focused attention on building up an efficient marketing system which will ensure time, place and form utility. Market reforms have therefore been initiated to facilitate integration of farm production and attract massive investments for building up post-harvest infrastructure. Accordingly, corporate units have entered agricultural markets to capitalize on opportunities such as “farm to fork” approach.

Biotechnology in Indian Agriculture: Review of Adoption and Performance of Bt Cotton

Biotechnology and genetically modified crops has been the subject of debate, especially with respect to developing countries. Like in other countries, introduction of Bt (bacillus thuringiensis) cotton in India led to an intense scientific debate and public controversy surrounding yield advantage, multinational control of seeds, human health, environmental risk and ethics. An attempt has been made in this article to review the adoption and performance of Bt cotton in India. The commercial release of first GM (genetically modified) crop, Bt cotton in 2002 led to the beginning of a ‘Gene Revolution’ in India. Today, almost 90 per cent of cotton area is planted to Bt cotton in India, with farmers adopting it in a rapid manner. Studies that looked into the impact of the Bt cotton on different parameters are not uniform and many voices have been raised for and against Bt cotton. The inconsistency in the results surely played a role in fueling the controversy over the use of the Bt cotton and its benefits for India farmers and therefore gains of Bt cotton cannot be generalized to all farmers, all states, and all years.