Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderbad—500 059, Andhra Pradesh
Cotton is an important commercial crop grown in the rainfed regions of India. The crop is input-intensive and the use of chemical insecticides for it is the highest among all crops. The plant protection behaviour of farmers in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh has been examined in this paper with particular reference to adoption of Bt cotton varieties, IPM components and the profitability. It has been observed that farmers follow a wide range of practices to manage the insect pests in cotton. The use of chemical insecticides has been found to account for, on an average, about 37 per cent of the total variable costs. The results have shown that there has been no significant reduction in plant protection expenditure when Bt varieties were adopted without IPM practices. The adoption of IPM practices, however, has led to reduced use of insecticides and increased profitability. The saving on plant protection chemicals could more than compensate the cost of adopting IPM components. Consequently, the net returns from cotton cultivation have been found to increase considerably.
