The price of Bollgard-II (BG-II) seed was raised by Rs. 43 for the 450-gram packet when Punjab announced a 33% subsidy on Bt cotton seed to encourage crop diversification, bringing the price from Rs. 810 to Rs. 853.
Pest assaults on the cotton crop were caused by phoney seeds and fertilisers. The farmers who experienced two consecutive crop failures and have little remaining purchasing power argue that although the state agriculture agency will still be able to grow the area under cotton, it will become more difficult to do so. The state administration plans to plant 3 lakh hectares of cotton, and is prepared to start providing canal water to cotton growers on April
They recommended that When all issues have been remedied, the BIS expedites the certification process and only then applies the Quality Control Order.
Punjab has been growing cotton for the past two years on 2.5 lakh hectares per time, producing 29 lakh quintals in the most recent season, whereas only 8 to 9 lakh quintals are anticipated this year. In the 2019–20 crop year, there were roughly 50 lakh quintals produced. In 2015, a pest invasion began reducing the area with yield. Many farmers used to purchase Bt cotton seed from Gujrat or get in touch with direct marketers from different companies who made exaggerated promises about how resistant the seeds were to pink bollworm and white fly.
A Bathinda farmer stated: “After two years of losses owing to We have made the decision to resume paddy cultivation in response to a natural calamity or pest infestation. We can’t take any more chances. Even if the Center raised the price of BG-II cotton, the Punjab government’s subsidy will lessen the impact, according to agriculture director Gurvinder Singh. The goal of the subsidy is to drive fake seeds off the market. From 2.5 lakh hectares, we intend to grow the cotton-growing area to 3 lakh hectares.
