Bt Cotton and Risk Society: A Comparative Study of Bt Cotton, NPM and Organic Cultivation in...

Bt Cotton and Risk Society:

A Comparative Study of Bt Cotton, NPM and Organic Cultivation in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

This article explores the debate concerning Bt cotton using

Beck’s (1992; 2009) concept of ‘risk society’. The

potential of Bt cotton to mitigate the risk of poverty for

resource-poor farmers is particularly pertinent in Andhra

Pradesh given the incidences of farmer suicides with which

the state is associated. The current study entails an in-

depth analysis of the impact of Bt cotton on risk

alleviation for various categories of land-holder, when

compared with organic and Non-Pesticide Management (NPM)

cultivation. It is based upon nine months of ethnographic

fieldwork conducted in three villages in Warangal during

2010/2011. In this far from atypically catastrophic season,

more than half of Bt cotton cultivators made a loss.

Despite similar average yields for organic and Bt cotton

farmers, however (an NPM cultivator achieved the highest

yield), all organic and NPM cultivators managed to at least

break even, due to their lower costs. Accumulated exposure

to debt was also higher among Bt cotton farmers. The

findings of this small-scale study suggest, therefore, that

while Bt cotton does hold some potential for scale-

neutrality in terms of risk alleviation, the risks of

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indebtedness and, hence, suicide are also exacerbated given

the significant costs associated with Bt cotton cultivation

in an already high-risk context.

Key words: Bt cotton, Non-Pesticide Management, organic

cultivation, risk, farmer suicides, indebtedness, agrarian

crisis

Introduction

In his depiction of ‘risk society’, the German sociologist,

Ulrich Beck, (1992: 19) argues that the ‘social production

of wealth is systematically accompanied by the social

production of risks’ [italics in the original]. This paper

proposes that the theory of risk society is highly relevant

to an exploration of Bt cotton in Andhra Pradesh. The risks

associated with Bt cotton, a genetically modified (GM) crop,

not only relate to the ambiguity of the technology itself in

terms of its possible toxicity for animals and humans; they

also refer to the technology’s potential to aggravate the

risk exposure of cultivators already struggling to negotiate

the significant risks associated with the agrarian crisis in

the state. These include water scarcity, soil degradation,

escalating costs, and the unequal distribution of key

resources such as land and political influence (Le Mons

Walker 2008: 557; Rao 2009; Deshpande 2010; Reddy and Mishra

2010, Singhal, 2010).

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In Andhra Pradesh, as in many states in India, the agrarian

crisis is exacerbated by erratic monsoon rains and extreme

climatic conditions. The Disaster Management Department of

the Andhra Pradesh government reported fifty-five natural

disasters related to flooding, droughts and cyclones in the

thirty-three years from 1977 to 2010.1 Reddy and Mishra

(2010: 43) observe that the instability associated with this

crisis has created a situation where ‘a growing proportion

of the farming community [is unable] to meet their basic

consumption needs from their dependence on agricultural

income.’

The general non-viability of agriculture is evident from the

farmer suicides with which Andhra Pradesh is associated.

Suicides began to occur most prominently among cotton

farmers in the state in 1987-88. During this season, a

spate of cotton farmers took their lives due to the

widespread failure of the cotton crop as a result of drought

and pest attack (Reddy et al., 1998: 1; Rao and Suri, 2006:

1546). Since then, the state has ranked among the top five

in India with regard to farmer suicides.2 Studies highlight

that these suicides are strongly linked to indebtedness

(Sridhar, 2006: 1560; Galab et al., 2009: 169; Deshpande and

Arora, 2010a: 24; Deshpande and Shah, 2010b: 134; Iyer and

Arora, 2010: 266; Sreedhar, 2010: 227).

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The approval of Bt technology occurred as part of a wider

shift to science and technology and a neo-liberal market

rationale as the proposed solutions to addressing the

agrarian crisis in India. This began with the high yielding

varieties (HYVs) of wheat and rice introduced during the

Green Revolution throughout the 1960s and 1970s (Brass,

1990: 287; Varshney, 1998: 48-80). The more recent emphasis

on gene technology accessed through private multinationals

has been termed the Gene Revolution (Fukuda-Parr, 2007).

In Andhra Pradesh, the scientific approach to the agrarian

crisis was emphasised in the Vision 2020 initiative launched by

Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam government in 1999. This

pledged to alleviate poverty by the year 2020 (Gupta, 2002;

Frankel, 2005: 616). It claimed: ‘We will need to be far

more aggressive in acquiring and applying advanced

technologies in a wide range of fields, including

agriculture’ (Gupta, 2002: 12). As Frankel (2005: 616)

highlights, however, ‘no part of the [Vision 2020] plan

directly addresses the structural inequalities in the

state.’ Thus, the Gene Revolution has sought to reduce

poverty from within the existing inequalities related to

access to land.

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The ambiguous risk linked to the potential toxicity of Bt

technology for humans and animals, and the likely long-term

ecological damage associated with borewell irrigation and

the use of chemical inputs, is being legitimated due to the

technology’s potential to deliver economic benefits to the

vulnerable small and marginal cultivators who are

highlighted as being most directly at risk in the agrarian

crisis (Choudhary and Gaur, 2010: 20). The particular risks

for these categories of land-holder were highlighted in a

sample survey conducted by Revathi (2007, as cited in Galab

et al 2009: 171) on secondary data on suicides in four

districts of Andhra Pradesh, including Warangal. This found

that the overwhelming majority (91.2 per cent) of suicides

in Warangal was undertaken by small and marginal farmers.

The uptake of Bt cotton in the state among all categories of

land-holder has been significant. The area under cotton in

Andhra Pradesh increased by seventy per cent between 2002-03

(when Bt cotton was officially introduced) and 2007-08

(Barik, 2010: 120). The production of cotton in the same

period more than trebled (ibid). The state now accounts for

fourteen per cent of India’s total cotton production, and is

second only to Punjab.3 In 2010, nearly ninety per cent of

the total area under cotton in Andhra Pradesh was cultivated

using Bt seed varieties (Gaurav and Mishra, 2012: 2).

Proponents argue that this widespread adoption is due to the

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increased yields and reduced need for pesticides which the

technology facilitates (Morse et al (2007: 44). Supporters

also assert that these benefits are scale-neutral, and

relevant for all classes of land-holder (Karihaloo and

Kumar, 2009: 15; Choudhary and Gaur, 2010: 20).

It is also argued that the technocratic approach to the

agrarian crisis has contributed to a marked decline in

poverty in the state. In 2013, Andhra Pradesh ranked sixth

out of fifteen major states in India in terms of overall

prosperity, with an average annual growth rate of 9.27 per

cent.4 Similarly, figures from the Planning Commission

indicate that the average poverty level in Andhra Pradesh

declined from 29.6 per cent in 2004-05 (32.3 per cent of the

rural, and 23.4 per cent of the urban population were

classified as poor) to 21.1 per cent in 2009-10 (22.8 per

cent: rural; 17.7 per cent: urban). This was below the

average poverty level for India of 29.8 per cent (33.8 per

cent: rural; 20.9 per cent: urban).5

Despite the optimistic assessments of proponents, however,

the technology has been the focus of significant protests

throughout India. These have been led by a strong and

vibrant NGO sector which, as Stone (2011: 387) observes, has

‘contested the new technological regime at every step.’

Opponents of the technology argue that it is contributing to

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a heightened exposure to the risk of indebtedness as a means

of securing economic benefits which are far from guaranteed.

Galab et al (2009: 191) argue that the situation of

indebtedness of farmers in Andhra Pradesh is worse than in

other states. The Times of India (12/10/2010)6 reported that

ninety-three per cent of Andhra Pradesh’s rural poor is in

debt. Likewise, the economist, Utsa Patnaik (2007: 3132),

argues that rural indebtedness is far more extreme than

Planning Commission figures suggest, and asserts that rural

poverty in India is closer to eighty-seven per cent.

Large-scale studies have indicated that the performance of

Bt technology is highly variable (Bennett et al 20067; Qaim

et al 20068). This has led to assertions that organic and

Non-Pesticide Management (NPM) farming, both of which

prohibit the use of Bt seed varieties, represent a more

sustainable, reliable and cost-effective approach to

agrarian risk. Organic farming involves neither pesticides

nor chemical fertilisers, while pesticides are banned as

part of NPM methods. Eyhorn (2007: 29) estimates that, by

2005, organic cotton projects had been initiated on two

thousand four hundred acres in Andhra Pradesh (0.01 per cent

of the cultivated area). Similarly, Ramanjaneyulu (2006:

563) claims that, by 2006, NPM methods were being used on

more than ten thousand acres in the state (0.05 per cent of

the cultivated area). Misra (2009: 22) asserts that not a

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single suicide death was registered from any of the three

thousand NPM villages in Andhra Pradesh in 2007. Thus,

Ramanjaneyulu (2006: 563) argues that, ‘before making…

categorical statements on [Bt] technology’, more effort

should be made ‘to study…other options available’ (ibid).

This study sets out to explore this debate through examining

the extent to which Bt cotton secures an alleviation of

agrarian risk, when compared with organic and NPM methods.

Unlike larger scale studies, this involves an in-depth

exploration of the experience of a small number of

cultivators using these different methods over one season

(2010/2011). The central question becomes whether Bt cotton

indeed mitigates risk for the categories of farmer examined

here, relative to alternative methods. Or is the

technology, as Ulrich Beck suggests, part of a wider risk

society in which attempts to escape the risks of poverty

through technological means are instead creating a new basis

for social inequality – one which is determined by the

ability of social actors to negotiate the risks associated

with technological innovation itself?

Locating the Research

The research on which this study is based forms part of a

wider PhD thesis in Sociology submitted at University

College Cork in Ireland in 2013. The fieldwork was conducted

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during the nine month period between June, 2010 and March,

2011, a duration chosen to coincide with a cotton season.

The quantitative data presented here was collected using

ethnographic fieldwork methods. These involved structured

interviews, substantiated through observations, newspaper

and library research, and field-notes, as well as attendance

at the University of Hyderabad. The requirement for such a

prolonged study with regard to Bt cotton in Andhra Pradesh

is highlighted by Pearson (2006: 309) who asserts the need

for an ‘extended period of time ‘in the field’’ using a

‘reflexive ethnographic approach’ (Pearson 2006: 309).

The researcher is an Irish female who was employed for seven

years by Syngenta, a multinational which is involved in the

research and development of Bt technology. Previous

research into GM crops was undertaken in Ireland for a

Master’s thesis in Sociology. Prior to the current

research, she had had no prior exposure to Indian society.

Given her limited ability in the Telugu language of

participants, translators were used in data collection.

Warangal was chosen as a location for the study given the

paradox of a district where the widespread adoption of Bt

technology coincides with significant opposition to it.

This has led the American political scientist, Ronald

Herring (2008: 145), to describe Warangal as ‘the most

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controversial district in India’. Herring (ibid 150) also

highlights that the risks associated with cotton cultivation

in Warangal are significant given that the district is

drought-prone, and cotton is often grown on unirrigated,

thin red soils.9 Nevertheless, cultivators in Warangal are

particularly dependent on cotton, and it has been adopted on

1Notes

The research for this article was funded by the Irish ResearchCouncil and the W J Leen Scholarship at UCC, and was undertakenin affiliation with the University of Hyderabad (UoH) in AndhraPradesh. The author wishes to thank Dr Kathy Glavanis-Grantham,Dr Ger Mullally and Piet Strydom at UCC, as well as ProfessorPurendra Prasad at UoH, for their invaluable support with thisproject. She would also like to acknowledge Dr Nagaraju and DrHaribabu in the Sociology Department at UoH for their informativeMaster’s seminars on Indian Sociology which the author attendedbetween July and December, 2010.

? Disaster Management Department: Government of Andhra PradeshReport, Viewed on 10 August 2013(http://disastermanagement.ap.gov.in/website/history.htm).2 Along with Andhra Pradesh, the states of Maharashtra,Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarrh account for over halfof all farm suicides in India. Sainath, P (2013): “Farmers’suicide rates soar above the rest”, The Hindu, Viewed on 24 May2013 (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/sainath/farmers-suicide-rates-soar-above-the-rest/article4725101.ece)3 ‘Spectrum Commodities: ‘Cotton – World Supply and DemandSummary’, Viewed on 30 April 2013(http://www.spectrumcommodities.com/education/commodity/statistics/cotton.html). 4 Srinivas, N V (2013): “AP ranks sixth in economic growth”, Deccan Chronicle, Viewed on 15 May 2013 (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130126/news-current-affairs/article/ap%E2%80%88ranks-sixth-economic-growth).5 Planning Commission Databook Extract (2012): “State SpecificPoverty Lines, Number and Percentage of Population below Poverty

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http://www.spectrumcommodities.com/education/commodity/statistics/cotton.html

http://www.spectrumcommodities.com/education/commodity/statistics/cotton.html

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/sainath/farmers-suicide-rates-soar-above-the-rest/article4725101.ece

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/sainath/farmers-suicide-rates-soar-above-the-rest/article4725101.ece

http://disastermanagement.ap.gov.in/website/history.htm

twenty-six per cent of the cultivated area.10 This makes it

the second largest crop after paddy (which accounts for

thirty-two per cent). Warangal’s Department of Agriculture

estimate that ninety-five per cent of cotton in the district

is cultivated using Bt seed varieties (2008: 148).

The reliance on cotton has been linked to the high numbers

of farmer suicides in the district (Stone, 2011: 390). Galab

et al (2009: 166-167) claim that there were seven hundred

Line by States – 2004-05 & 2009-10”, Viewed on 18 May 2013(http://planningcommission.nic.in/data/datatable/0904/tab_45.pdf).6 Srivastava, R (2010): “AP’s poor groaning under debt trap” Timesof India, 12 Oct 20107 The study by Bennett el al. (2006) was carried out on ninethousand Bt and non-Bt cotton plots in the state of Maharashtrabetween 2002-03. Questionnaires were conducted by Mahyco, anIndian subsidiary of the multinational, Monsanto, theorganisation most associated with the promotion of Bt technologyin India, and monitored by the Genetic Engineering AppraisalCommittee (GEAC), the apex regulatory authority in India. Thisstudy highlighted ‘spatial and temporal variation’ in thebenefits of Bt technology (Bennett et al., 2006: 70).8 Qaim et al (2006) researched three hundred and forty-one cottonfarmers in Maharahstra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Naduin the 2002-03 season. They found significant variation in theperformance of the technology associated with agro-ecologicaldifferences and variability in farmers’ spraying habits (ibid:56). 9 Thick black soils which retain moisture are considered idealfor the cotton crop (Stone, 2011: 390). In the current study,most cultivators operated holdings with a mixture of both red andblack soils. 10 “Agriculture in Warangal, India”, Viewed on 30 April 2013(http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Agriculture_in_Warangal,_India).

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http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Agriculture_in_Warangal,_India

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Agriculture_in_Warangal,_India

http://planningcommission.nic.in/data/datatable/0904/tab_45.pdf

and sixty-six farmer suicides in Warangal between 1998 and

2006. This was significantly higher than the next highest

district, Mahabubnagar, in which four hundred and sixty-

seven suicides were recorded.

The villages involved in this study were located with the

help of two local NGOs, Crops Jangaon and the Deccan

Development Society. In order to avoid the potential for

the researcher to be positioned due to this initial

introduction by NGOs, or for the cost data provided by

cultivators to be manipulated in order to promote a

particular viewpoint, cultivators were regularly assured

that the researcher had no vested interest in either

opposing or supporting the technology, but wanted simply to

understand the reality of their experience. All interviews

were conducted by the researcher and her translator in

private with the participants in their homes.11 The data was

corroborated through observations, newspaper reports and

comparisons with information gathered from other

participants in the same village.

Participants were interviewed up to three times throughout

the season. Each interview lasted approximately one hour,

11 This was often difficult to secure given the tendency forgroups to gather around the researcher in the villages. However,it was felt that the insistence on privacy in the interviewsallowed more reliable data to be obtained, particularly on costs.

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including the time for the translation. All interviews were

recorded and transcribed verbatim by the researcher.

Three days per week were spent on field trips to the

villages. During this time, the researcher was based at a

hotel frequented by other researchers from local NGOs, and

considered suitable for a lone ‘foreign’ female. It was

also located at a mid-way point between the villages.

Although the initial intention had been to stay in a

village, the decision to study three locations, and the

desire to avoid being perceived as favouring particular

categories of land-holder within the villages, meant that it

was considered more beneficial to the research to travel to

and from the villages each day. This involved pre-dawn

starts to ensure that village interviews were conducted

before 10am when participants would start work in the

fields. For the remainder of the week, the researcher was

based at the University of Hyderabad. Here, she attended

classes in Telugu and Master’s courses in Sociology, and

conducted library research and interviews related to the

political dimension of the wider study.

Pseudonyms, formulated with the intention of assisting the

reader in linking the villages with the methods, have been

adopted. A brief introduction to the villages and selected

participants is as follows:

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Bantala

Bantala is located to the south of Warangal, approximately

one hundred kilometres from Hyderabad. The population of

the village is two thousand eight hundred people. Sixty-one

per cent of the cultivated area in Bantala is sown to

cotton, and only Bt cotton varieties are cultivated. Six

participants were selected from this village.

Nandanapuram

Nandanapuram is located to the north of Warangal,

approximately two hundred and ten kilometres from Hyderabad.

The village is large, with three thousand five hundred

inhabitants. Sixty-three per cent of the cultivated area is

sown to cotton. While ninety per cent of cotton cultivation

in the village involves Bt varieties, ten per cent of

farmers have opted for NPM methods of cultivation. In the

current study, two participants are NPM cultivators in

Nandanapuram, one marginal and one small-holder, and six are

Bt cotton cultivators.

Orgampalle

The organic village of Orgampalle is located in the south of

Warangal, approximately ten kilometres from Bantala, and one

hundred kilometres from Hyderabad. It has a population of

just two hundred and two inhabitants. Only seventeen per

cent of village land is allocated to cotton, all of which is

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cultivated using organic methods. Bt cotton is banned in

the village. Seven cultivators were selected in the

village.

Table 1. Profile of the Villages and Research Participants

Profile Bantala (BT)

Nandanapuram(NP)

Orgampalle (OR)

Population 2,800 3,500 202

Percentagesown to cotton(%)

61 (allBt)

63 (90 per centBt; 10 per cent NPM)

17 (all organic)

Number of Cultivators

6 8 (6 Bt and 2 NPM cultivators)

7

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Category of Land-Holding of Cotton by ParticipantsMarginal (0.1 – 2.5acres)

2 3 4

Small(2.6 – 5acres)

2 3 3

Semi-medium(5.1 – 10acres)

1 1 0

Medium(10.1 – 20acres)

1 1 0¹

¹ Semi-medium and medium holdings of cotton were unavailable inOrgampalle

As Table 1 indicates, the research involved a total of

twenty-one participants across the three villages. These

were selected in an attempt to ensure a cross-section of

land-holders in each village.12 The majority of farmers

cultivate cotton on marginal and small-holdings (forty-two

and thirty-three per cent, respectively). As has been

highlighted, studies have shown that these categories are

the most at risk of suicide. It should also be noted that

the current analysis refers only to those aspects of

cultivation which relate to cotton. The cultivation of

other crops, such as paddy and chilli, may well mitigate

some of the risks associated with cotton cultivation.

However, the main focus of this analysis is on the impact of

different methods of cotton cultivation on agrarian risk.

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The total number of Bt cotton farmers involved in the study

is twelve (six from Bantala and six from Nandanapuram). The

study compares their experience with two NPM farmers

(Nandanapuram) and seven organic farmers (Orgampalle). As

Table 1 highlights, the absence of semi-medium and medium

land-holders adopting NPM and organic methods in the

villages studied means that comparison is available only for

the vulnerable marginal and small cultivators. The

experiences of semi-medium and medium farmers, therefore,

relate to Bt cotton cultivation only.

While it is recognised that this is a small-scale study, it

is felt that the in-depth exploration of the experience of

these participants over a nine month period permits a

nuanced insight into the potential of Bt cotton to alleviate

risk for various categories of land-holder. In the case of

the marginal and small holders whose exposure to the risk of

suicide is recognised as being the most acute, the

experience of Bt cotton cultivators is compared with those

adopting organic and NPM methods. It is acknowledged that

generalisation is problematic given the small numbers

involved in the study; however, it is argued that the

analysis highlights the variability of Bt cotton for

marginal and small cultivators at the micro level. This

reinforces the need for care in making generalisations on Bt

technology based upon larger sample sizes which may be

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highly reductionist, and lack the multi-dimensionality of

smaller, more detailed studies.

Findings

The 2010/2011 season in which this research was conducted

was characterised by extensive flooding. This resulted in

significant crop loss for all cultivators. The Deccan Chronicle

(9 Dec 2010) reported that around twenty-five thousand

hectares (sixty thousand acres) of cotton were damaged due

to flooding.13 Farmers throughout the state claimed that

more than thirty per cent of the crop had been lost (Times of

India, 7 Jan 2011).14 This led to general unrest among cotton

cultivators15 and a spate of farmer suicides.16 These

suicides were exacerbated by the uncompromising stance of

Micro-Finance Institutes (MFIs) in their pursuit of debt

repayments. The largest number of MFI-related suicides was

in Warangal (Times of India, 23 Nov 2010).17

The average cultivation costs incurred in the villages for

the 2010/2011 season are presented in Table 2.

12 Along with land-holding, participants were also selected ondimensions of caste and gender. It is, however, recognised thatland-holding represents a crucial dimension along which the riskof the agrarian crisis is differentiated.

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Table 2. Average Cultivation Cost per Acre by Village and

Land-holding Category

BT NP (Bt) NP(NPM)

OR

Average Cultivation Costs per Acre(Rupees)

17,150 20,975 11,750 10,400

Average Costs per Acre per Category of Land-holderMarginal 12,300 17,850 10,700 9,625Small 19,500 23,750 12,800 11,200Semi-medium 19,800 19,300 -Medium 17,000 23,000 -BT = Bantala; NP (Bt) = Nandanapuram Bt farmers; NP (NPM) = Nandanapuram NPM farmers; OR = Orgampalle (organic)

13 DC Correspondents (2010): “Heavy rains take a toll on crops”Deccan Chronicle, 9 Dec 201014 Times News Network (2011): “Cotton growers left in the lurch”Times of India, 7 Jan 201115 ‘Cotton farmers go berserk, beat up traders’, Times of India, 30Oct 201016 Following the flooding, farmer suicides were reportedfrequently in the Andhra Pradesh media: Deccan Chronicle: “Farmer ends life over debt”, 18 Dec 2010; “Fivefarmers die over debt, crop losses”, 26 Dec 2010; “Minister: 49farmers died in December”, 27 Dec 2010; “10 farmers die due torain damage”, 5 Jan 2011Times of India: “Mounting debts drive farmer to suicide”, 8 Oct 2010;“Upset over crop loss, woman farmer commits suicide”, 9 Dec 2010;“Unable to bear crop loss, 3 farmers die”, 10 Dec 2010; “Threemore farmers die of shock”, 18 Dec 2010; “Seven more farmers dieof crop-loss shock”, 20 Dec 2010; “Crop losses claim lives of 10more ryots”, 30 Dec 2010; “Cotton growers left in the lurch”, 7Jan 2011.17 “MFIs ‘guilty’ of abetting suicides in state, reveals inquiry”,Times of India, 23 Nov 2010.

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Table 2 shows that cultivation costs varied significantly

across the methods. The differential between methods is

most clearly evident in the case of Nandanapuram where the

average costs for the two NPM cultivators in Nandanapuram

were almost half of those of Bt cotton farmers in the same

village. Organic cultivators in Orgampalle incurred the

lowest costs of cultivation, again less than half those of

Bt cotton farmers in Nandanapuram. This was largely due to

the absence of expenditure on pesticides and fertilisers,

and the lower outlay on seeds. It should be noted that

cultivation costs for the marginal land-holding category in

Bantala is reduced due to the crop loss of one participant

mid-way through the season. Such early crop loss is a

characteristic feature of catastrophic seasons and, as this

study highlights, can result in misleadingly reduced input

cost calculations during such seasons.

Bt cotton cultivators paid on average Rs 750 for a packet of

Bt seeds (sufficient for one acre), as opposed to the Rs 450

for the non-Bt varieties used in organic and NPM

cultivation. However, Bt cotton seeds were also procured at

higher rates on the black market given the tendency for

stocks at official traders to be bought up by wealthier

land-owners, and then sold at inflated prices to smaller

farmers. One cultivator in Nandanapuram claimed to have

spent Rs 1,250 per packet of Bt cotton seeds, while others

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cited prices of between Rs 800 and Rs 1,000. The difficulty

in obtaining non-Bt seeds due to their non-availability in

seed shops was noted. In the current study, this was

coordinated by NGOs who arranged for bulk orders and small

advance payments from cultivators across a number of

villages.

The use of chemical inputs associated with Bt cotton

cultivation in both Bantala and Nandanapuram entailed an

average spend of Rs 3,500 per acre for pesticides, and Rs

2,400 per acre for fertilisers. NPM farmers did not incur

pesticide costs, while organic farmers incurred neither

pesticide nor fertiliser costs.

Table 3. Average Yields per Acre by Village and Land-holding

Category

BT NP (Bt) NP(NPM)

OR

Average Yieldsper Acre (Quintals)

4.6 4.75 6.75 4.75

Average Yields per Acre per Category of Land-holderMarginal 2.5 6.25 4.5 4Small 4.75 3.25 9 5.5Semi-medium 5 4.5 - -Medium 6.5 5 - -BT = Bantala; NP (Bt) = Nandanapuram Bt farmers; NP (NPM) = Nandanapuram NPM farmers; OR = Orgampalle (organic)

Table 3 presents the average yields obtained by cultivators

in the 2010/2011 season. All participants asserted that

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their yields were less than half those expected given the

widespread flooding. Table 3 highlights that while the

average yields associated with Bt and organic cotton

cultivation were similar, the highest average yield was

associated with NPM methods. This was due to an NPM small-

holder who obtained the best yield of the study (nine

quintals). (The other NPM marginal holder obtained a yield

of 4.5 quintals).

In the case of Bt cotton cultivation, the average yields

mask significant variation for individual cultivators. The

medium land-holder in Bantala obtained a yield of 6.5

quintals. However, the highest yield obtained by a Bt

cotton farmer was that of eight quintals secured by a female

marginal land-holder in Nandanapuram. This relatively high

yield in a difficult season obtained by a marginal

cultivator does suggest the potential for scale neutrality

which proponents argue is a primary benefit of Bt technology

in the alleviation of agrarian risk.

A focus on this result would, however, fail to recognise the

crop failures which were also particularly acute among Bt

cotton farmers. As highlighted previously, the female

marginal Bt cotton cultivator in Bantala lost her entire

crop mid-way through the season. Similarly, a female Bt

cotton small-holder in Nandanapuram managed an average of

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just one quintal per acre. The lowest yield associated with

NPM farming, however, was 4.5 quintals per acre obtained by

the marginal cultivator. For organic cultivators, the

lowest yield was 2.5 quintals per acre, also obtained by a

marginal cultivator, and the highest was six quintals

obtained by both a marginal and small-holder. Thus, the

yield variability was greatest among small and marginal Bt

cotton cultivators.

Table 4. Average Profit and (Loss) by Village and Land-

holding Category

BT NP (Bt) NP(NPM)

OR

Average Profit/ (Loss) for Total Land-holding (Rupees)

24,000 (10,512)

62,400 20,326

Average Profit/(Loss) per Acre per Category of Land-holder

Marginal (15,000)

16,850 20,300 3,820

Small (9,800)

(31,100)

104,500 36,833

Semi-medium 19,100 11,400 -Medium 102,00

0(39,200

)-

BT = Bantala; NP (Bt) = Nandanapuram Bt farmers; NP (NPM) = Nandanapuram NPM farmers; OR = Orgampalle (organic)

While Table 3 indicated that average yields for the villages

were similar for organic and Bt cotton cultivators (and

higher for NPM cultivation), Table 4 highlights the

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differentiated impact of these similar yields on the profits

and losses associated with the methods. As can be seen in

the land-holding break-down in Table 4, there were

significant losses among Bt cotton farmers in both Bantala

and Nandanapuram. In the case of Bantala, the average

profit for the village overall was made possible largely due

to the high return secured by the medium land-holder of

twenty acres (Rs 102,000). (Half of this cultivator’s

profit on seventeen acres had to be shared with the land-

owner as part of a leasing agreement). This profit was also

enabled through this cultivator’s strategy of storing all of

his harvest awaiting the higher prices later in the season.

The average profit for Bantala masks, however, the average

losses made by marginal and small land-holders in the

village. Similarly, the average profit made by marginal Bt

cotton cultivators in Nandanapuram is largely due to the

eight quintals secured by the female marginal land-holder.

This enabled her to make a profit of Rs 24,000 from her two

acres.

At an individual level, half of the Bt cotton farmers who

took part in this study made a loss. The significance of

the choice of method on the negotiation of the risk of a

catastrophic season was particularly evident in the

comparison between organic and Bt cotton cultivation. Here,

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despite similar average yields, half of the marginal and

small Bt cotton farmers made a loss, while not a single

organic farmer did so. The same was true of the NPM

farmers, one of whom (the small-holder) obtained the highest

profit of the study (Rs 104,500), again through holding back

his relatively high yield until prices peaked later in the

season.

Table 5. Average Accumulated Debt Levels by Village and

Land-holding Category

BT NP (Bt) NP(NPM)

OR

Average Debt Levels(Rupees)

239,375 188,750 12,500 48,625

Average Debt Level per Category of Land-holderMarginal 25,000 215,000 25,000 47,250Small 382,500 180,000 0 50,000Semi-medium 150,000 110,000 - -Medium 400,000 250,000 - -BT = Bantala; NP (Bt) = Nandanapuram Bt farmers; NP (NPM) = Nandanapuram NPM farmers; OR = Orgampalle (organic)

As Table 5 highlights, average debt levels are significantly

higher for Bt cotton farmers. In general, Bt cotton farmers

operating marginal and small holdings in both Bantala and

Narlapur are exposed to significantly higher levels of debt

than their organic and NPM counterparts. The exception is

the marginal category in Bantala where both participants

have managed to limit their debt exposure through

alternative income sources. (The husband of the female

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cultivator in this category works in construction, while the

male owns an auto-rickshaw). Only fourteen per cent of

cultivators (three of the twenty-one participants) are debt-

free. This includes one marginal Bt cotton cultivator (the

auto-rickshaw owner), one NPM small-holder and one organic

small-holder.

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Apart from a marginal Bt cotton farmer in Bantala (the

female whose husband works in construction) and one marginal

NPM cultivator in Nandanapuram, all of the debt in Table 5

has been accumulated over a number of years. Bt cotton

farmers regularly cite agricultural costs associated with

the drilling for borewells, the cost of inputs, labour

charges and crop failure as the reasons for indebtedness.

They also, however, mention dowry and house construction

expenditure.

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The indebtedness of small and marginal cultivators in

Orgampalle arises not from expenditure on agriculture –

quite apart from the absence of pesticide and fertiliser

costs, the drilling for borewells is also banned in the

village. Similarly, villagers charge each other lower than

18 Villagers in Orgampalle charged each other seventy rupees perday for female agricultural labour, while in Bantala the labourrate for females was one hundred rupees. In Nandanapuram,villagers sometimes paid daily wages up to one hundred and fiftyrupees given the high numbers of landless agricultural labourersin the village, and the resulting pressure for higher wages.

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average labour rates given the absence of landless labourers

who rely on daily wages.18 Indebtedness in Orgampalle,

therefore, arises almost entirely as a result of dowry and

house construction charges. However, as Table 5 indicates,

the limited indebtedness arising from agriculture means that

marginal and small cultivators adopting organic and NPM

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methods have managed to limit their exposure to debt and,

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Discussion

The analysis highlights the variability and complexity

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Gaurav, S and S Mishra (2012): “To Bt or Not to Bt? Risk andUncertainty Considerations in Technology Assessment”(Mumbai: Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research).

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individual cultivators. This illustrates Beck’s (1992: 19)

view, highlighted earlier, that the ‘social production of

wealth is systematically accompanied by the social production

of risks’ [italics in the original]. However, in the current

study, it is the attempt to produce wealth which does not

necessarily materialise which is the greatest source of immediate

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Kumbamu, A (2007): “Discussion: Beyond AgriculturalDeskilling and the Spread of Genetically Modified Cotton inWarangal”, Current Anthropology, 48(6): 891 893.

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Misra, S S (2009): “No pesticides, no debts”, Down to Earth,400: 26 28.

Morse, S, R Bennett and Y Ismael (2007): “Inequality and GMcrops: A case study of Bt cotton in India”, AgBioForum,10(1): 44 50.

Patnaik, U (2007): “Neoliberalism and Rural Poverty inIndia”, Economic and Political Weekly, 42(30): 3132 3150.

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risk for Bt cotton cultivators. This is quite apart from

the ambiguous risk of the technology itself in terms of its

broader toxicity, and the ecological impact of the

cultivation praxis with which it is associated.

The finding that the highest yield among Bt cotton farmers

was obtained by a marginal female cultivator in Nandanapuram

Pearson, M (2006): ‘“Science,’ representation andresistance: the Bt cotton debate in Andhra Pradesh, India”,The Geographical Journal, 172(4): 306 317.

Qaim, M, A Subramaniam, G Naik and D Zilberman (2006): “Adoption of Bt cotton and impact variability: Insights fromIndia”, Review of Agricultural Economics, 28(1): 48 58.

Ramanjaneyulu, G V and K Kuruganti (2006): “Bt Cotton inIndia: Sustainable Pest Management?”, Economic and PoliticalWeekly, XLI(7): 561 563.

Rao, V M (2009): “Farmers' Distress in a ModernizingAgriculture - The Tragedy of the Upwardly Mobile: AnOverview” in Reddy, D N and S Mishra (ed) Agrarian Crisis in India(New Delhi: Oxford University Press) 109 125.

Rao, P N and K C Suri (2006): “Dimensions of AgrarianDistress in Andhra Pradesh”, Economic and Political Weekly, 41(16):1546 1552.

Reddy, D N and S Mishra (2010): “Economic Reforms, SmallFarmer Economy and Agrarian Crisis” in Deshpande, R S and SArora (ed) Agrarian Crisis and Farmer Suicides (New Delhi: Sage) 4369.

Reddy, A S, S Vedantha, B V Rao, S R Reddy and Y V Reddy(1998): “Gathering Agrarian Crisis: Farmers' Suicides inWarangal (AP) India” (Warangal: Centre for EnvironmentalStudies).

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indicates the potential for scale neutrality of the

technology. This has led many small and marginal

cultivators to adopt Bt technology as a strategy for

negotiating the risks associated with the wider agrarian

crisis. Thus, as Kumbamu (2007: 891) notes, ‘[m]any

desperate Warangal farmers continue cultivating Bt cotton

Singhal, A K (2010): “Poor Indian Farmers' Plight andLiberalisation: An Overview” in Deshpande, R S and S Arora(ed) Agrarian Crisis and Farmer Suicides (New Delhi: Sage) 86 93.

Sreedhar, G (2010): “The Drought Prone Anantapur District ofAndhra Pradesh” in Deshpande, R S and S Arora (ed) AgrarianCrisis and Farmer Suicides (New Delhi: Sage) 219 241.

Sridhar, V (2006): “Why Do Farmers Commit Suicide? The Caseof Andhra Pradesh”, Economic and Political Weekly, 41(16): 15591565.

Stone, G D (2011): “Field versus Farm in Warangal: Bt Cotton,Higher Yields, and Larger Questions”, World Development, 39(3):387 398.

Stone, G D (2007): “Agricultural Deskilling and the Spreadof Genetically Modified Cotton in Warangal”, CurrentAnthropology, 48(1): 67 103.

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(so-called white gold) in the hope that one good crop may

help them out of the debt trap and the death trap.’

The findings also highlight, however, that in an agrarian

crisis characterised by climatic extremes, the strategy of

Bt cotton adoption is particularly high risk given the extra

cultivation costs involved with this method. As this study

has shown, these higher costs mean that, in the event of the

regular climatic catastrophes which are a central

contributor to the agrarian crisis, the potential for

extreme indebtedness is heightened for Bt cotton

cultivators. This is also noted by Gaurav and Mishra (2012:

3) who argue that ‘[cotton] varieties with the Bt gene are

as susceptible to all the risks in cotton cultivation that

non-Bt varieties are, and ignoring such risks [would

represent] a serious analytical flaw.’

While the risk of Bt cotton is taken by cultivators in an

attempt to secure higher yields and to minimise the costs of

pesticides as a means of alleviating poverty, this study

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indicates that pesticide costs remain significant for Bt

cotton cultivators. It also highlights that higher yields

do not always materialise, particularly in catastrophic

seasons. In such cases, the yields obtained by Bt cotton

cultivators are not notably different to those secured using

lower-cost alternative methods. In fact, the highest yield

obtained in the current study was achieved by a small-holder

in Nandanapuram adopting NPM methods. Similarly, the study

suggests that there is greater yield variability among

marginal and small farmers adopting Bt cotton than is found

with organic and NPM methods, though this would require

further study.

The findings highlight the impact of the extra cultivation

costs incurred by Bt cotton cultivators on the ability to

negotiate the risks associated with the vagaries of the

Indian climate. Among the small and marginal categories of

land-holder in the current study, half of the Bt cotton

cultivators made a loss, while not a single NPM or organic

cultivator did so. The accumulated impact of the extra

risk-taking related to Bt cotton cultivation over time can

be seen in the significantly higher exposure to debt of Bt

cotton cultivators, particularly for those where no

alternative sources of income are available.

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Galab et al (2009: 187) found that, according to income and

expenditure levels in 2002-03, agriculture was viable only

for cultivators with holdings of ten acres (four hectares)

or more. The findings here indicate, however, that

cultivators in the medium land-holding category (10.1 to

twenty acres) are also exposed to significant risk. As Table

4 highlights, the Bt cotton cultivator in the medium land-

holding category in Nandanapuram made an average loss in the

2010/2011 season. Similarly, although the medium land-

holder in Bantala managed to make a good profit in

2010/2011, Table 5 indicates that he is also significantly

in debt. He has also adopted the high risk strategy of land

lease, the costs of which must be borne regardless of

whether the crop fails or not. This highlights the extra

risks which must be taken in order to enhance the viability

of small holdings, especially in the case of a high cost

cultivation method such as Bt cotton.

Given that suicides are linked to indebtedness, the question

of whether Bt cotton alleviates or exacerbates agrarian risk

is, therefore, a highly complex one. As indicated, the

findings indicate that Bt cotton has the potential for scale

neutrality in delivering benefits. This was corroborated in

interviews with participants in Bantala where all

participants reported that yields of up to fifteen quintals

per acre had been possible with the technology. However,

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this study indicates that this potential is sporadic and

unpredictable in the Indian context, and entails significant

risk. The research, therefore, supports Glover’s (2010:

482) view that ‘the performance and impacts of GM crops

have…been highly variable, socio-economically differentiated

and contingent on a range of agronomic, socio-economic and

institutional factors.’

It is also evident from the study that organic and NPM

methods lend themselves to a different orientation to the

negotiation of risk. This emphasises a more cooperative

approach to risk negotiation, not least due to the need to

work with NGOs as part of a wider collective in order to

secure the supply of non-Bt seeds. Similarly, in the case

of Orgampalle, the approach to the risk of drought has

involved the use of watershed management and rainwater

harvesting. Here, the drilling for individual borewells is

banned, given that they result in a lowering of the water

table and the moisture content of village lands generally,

thus heightening the risk for the collective in order to

temporarily alleviate the risk of the few who can afford (or

access loans to cover) the significant costs of borewells.

The more cooperative approach to risk negotiation in

Orgampalle was also evident in the ‘agreement’ between

villagers to keep their labour rates to a minimum.

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It is recognised that organic and NPM methods require

specialised farming knowledge. As Reddy and Mishra (2010:

49) assert, ‘shifts towards organic farming and crop

rotation are not easy options, particularly for small

farmers, unless accompanied by appropriate institutional

support systems.’ These methods entail not only a different

orientation to the negotiation of risk in terms of an

enhanced mutual cooperation between cultivators, but also

with regard to the sharing of farming expertise. This would

seek to combat the ‘deskilling’ of agriculture which Stone

(2007) argues is a further risk associated with Bt cotton

cultivation.

This analysis of Bt cotton, therefore, supports Beck’s

(2009: 38) view of a global society which is being split

into ‘risk winners and risk losers’. In the case of the

Indian agrarian crisis, this has seen agriculture become a

‘stochastic production process’ (Gaurav and Mishra (2012:

6). The result is the type of ‘Russian roulette’ which Beck

(2009: 38) argues is being played with the environment in

global risk society. In the current study, few Bt cotton

cultivators emerge as ‘risk winners’. Instead, organic and

NPM methods appear to represent lower risk strategies with

regard to the negotiation of agrarian risk within the

existing distributional pattern of land. This is

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particularly the case in catastrophic seasons, due to the

lower costs which these methods entail.

While NPM and organic methods appear to present greater

protection against the extreme losses suffered by Bt cotton

cultivators, however, they are also perceived by many as

offering more limited potential for the considerable wealth

creation which continues to be associated with Bt

technology. However, this study has shown that the chance of

producing extreme wealth associated with Bt cotton coincides

with the significant risk of extreme indebtedness. Thus, Bt

cotton represents a gamble which holds the potential for

risk alleviation; however, there is also a strong chance

that, over time, Bt cotton cultivation will exacerbate the

potential for extreme indebtedness, and the very real risks

associated with this, particularly for the categories of

land-holder explored in this research.

Conclusion

This study highlights that Bt cotton cannot be considered an

adequate response to agrarian risk. Instead, it indicates

that a more cooperative approach to risk negotiation which

emphasises the long-term sustainability of the collective,

rather than an approach which seeks to individualise the

negotiation of risk, represents a more effective response in

high risk contexts. It is acknowledged that Bt cotton

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cultivation is not the only contributing factor to rural

indebtedness, and in some cases holds the potential to

alleviate debt exposure; however, the differences in the

debt levels of Bt cotton cultivators when compared to those

using alternative methods would suggest that Bt cotton

cultivation, over time and in contexts associated with

climatic extremes such as India, exacerbates debt exposure

more often than it relieves it, particularly for the

cultivators of twenty acres or less explored here.

A more robust alleviation of the risk faced by cultivators

in the agrarian crisis would involve greater efforts by the

state to provide extension services and cooperative

institutions which offer support for a variety of methods,

and encourage a more collective response to risk

negotiation. This would go some way to mitigating the

differentiated exposure to risk associated with the

inequality of land access in rural India, in the absence of

land reform and a more cooperative approach to cultivation

itself. Likewise, a targeted welfare system would provide a

financial safety net to cultivators in catastrophic seasons.

More generally, however, this study highlights the need to

ensure that attempts to secure the economic benefits of a

technology do not lead to a lack of focus on the risks which

such efforts entail, and on the responsibility of the state

in this regard. In the case of Bt cotton, the significant

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exposure to the risk of indebtedness of vulnerable

cultivators is part of a state-approved struggle to procure

wealth within the existing pattern of land distribution. It

is argued here that figures on economic growth cannot be

assessed in the absence of data on indebtedness as evidence

of the risks which are being taken by individual cultivators

in this regard. It is also asserted that until greater

attention is given to the aspect of risk as the dark

underbelly of attempts to create wealth, poverty will

continue to be addressed in ways which exacerbate the risk

exposure of the many for the sake of only the very lucky

few.

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