Cotton fails as farmers sow Egyptian variety in Balangir Monday, 24 December 2012 23:20 SUDHIR MISHRA | BALANGIR

Bhubaneswar Cotton fails as farmers sow Egyptian variety in Balangir

Cotton fails as farmers sow Egyptian variety in Balangir

Monday, 24 December 2012 23:20

SUDHIR MISHRA | BALANGIR

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In a surprising revelation, rather than the widely known American cotton, a new variety of Egyptian cotton (Hirsutum barbadense) was cultivated in Balangir district this year much to the surprise of many.

The cotton species is not suitable to the local soil and climate. It is a long duration variety Bt cotton and requires more irrigation, said officials.

Following publication of the a news in The Pioneer headlined ‘Balangir farmers hit hard as Bt Cotton fails’, a team of agriculture officials and experts of the All India Coordinated Cotton Improvement Project, Bhawanipatna including Dr R Patnaik, Deputy Director of Agriculture (DDA) Balangir Manoranjan Mallick and others visited the cotton fields of the farmers of Rengali village on December 12 last and interacted with the farmers. The farmers of Manupali village were also present. A total of around 60 acres of cotton in Rengali and Manupali have been affected.

During the discussion, it was found that the farmers had taken up the Egyptian cotton variety after purchasing the seeds from an unapproved dealer. As the seed variety was not suitable, the crop failed.

Farmers should not go for the cultivation of unapproved variety of cotton. More details about this would be known once the scientific team gives its report, says Deputy Director of Agriculture Balangir Mallick.

“Whenever the farmers are purchasing seeds, they should purchase only from licenced seed traders and get proper bill from them. In Odisha, the Directorate of Agriculture is not recommending the cultivation of Bt Cotton. The farmers, who suffered loss, should have intimated about the cultivation of seed variety to authorities, earlier. As the farmers have suffered a loss, they should move against the seed company for compensation under the Consumer Protection Act,” says Director of Agriculture RS Gopalan.