India A Biotech Success Story

Avatar for Matt Hopkins By Scott C. Lucas|6 August 2007

In a recent study of Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt) cotton-growing areas in India, Indicus Analytics interviewed 10,000 growers of both Bt and non-Bt cotton. “What our study shows is that the impact on the overall development of the household and the community is quite phenomenal in Bt cotton-producing areas: Greater incomes, greater access to healthcare services, greater education,” Bhandari said.

Approximately 95% of India’s farmer households are resource-poor farmers, many of whom are better able to survive thanks to biotech cotton. “Farmers have spoken quite unambiguously in favor of the new technologies,” Bhandari noted.

Indicus Analytics’ study, as well as interviews with Indian growers, are available at the Monsanto Co. web site, www.monsanto.com/biotech-gmo.