A producer of genetically modified (GM) cotton from Pune, India, teamed up with a state-run farmers' cooperative to sell its insect-resistant seeds at a much-reduced price. Krishidhan Seeds will market its own cotton varieties developed by incorporating Monsanto's Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene into its own hybrids through the Maharashtra State Cotton Growers Marketing Federation, located in Nagpur. The strategic move ensures farmers benefit from the subsidies available to private-public entities. The Maharashtra state accounts for nearly a third of all GM cotton grown in India, and its uptake has been growing since 2002. Critics like Kishore Tiwari of the advocacy group Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti in Yavatmal consider the state's support for GM varieties ironic, as this cotton-growing region witnessed the most farmers' suicides since 2005. But an independent investigation conducted in 2009 concluded that suicide among farmers had several causes and Bt cotton was not a major factor (Nat. Biotechnol. 27, 9–10, 2009). A recent study tracking 533 smallholder cotton growers in India from 2002–2008 found that those adopting Bt cotton had 24% higher yields and a 50% gain in profits compared with farmers growing traditional varieties (http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1203647109).
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