The government of the second most populous state in India, Maharashtra, is rethinking its policy of promoting Bt cotton. Officials have announced a pilot project, designed to increase yields of cotton while reducing cultivation costs, by implementing a ‘Brazilian’ model which uses straight varieties of cotton and not hybrid or Bt (genetically-modified) ones. Questions have recently been asked about the suitability of Bt Cotton in Maharashtra. According to official statistics, in 2012, nearly 12.1 million hectares of land was under cotton cultivation in India, of which around 90% is Bt cotton. However, state agriculture commissioner Umakant Dangat said, “India has the lowest cotton productivity in the world and Maharashtra, the lowest in India. A recently released study by the Council of Social Development (CSD) called ‘Socio-economic impact assessment of Bt cotton in India’, raises similar concerns around yield. The CSD study questions whether the marginal land of the eastern region of Maharashtra is suited for Bt cotton at all. CCIR director Keshav Kranthi, optimistic about the new pilot project, said. “We can even match the world average if our experiment becomes successful,” adding that the Brazil pattern not only increases the yield per hectares, but also reduces the cultivation cost by almost two-thirds compared to Bt cotton. He explained that the cost of seeds of straight varieties is much lower than Bt varieties, and that these varieties become ready for plucking in 150-160 days whereas BT varieties take about 180-200 days, substantially reducing the need for fertilizers, pesticides and other nutrients. And unlike Bt cotton varieties, seeds derived from straight cotton varieties can be used during the next season also, he said, adding: “All these factors reduce the cost of cultivation from around Rs. 12,500 per ha. to under Rs. 5,000 per ha.”