\nEconomic Times, India
\n AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government will bring a special Bill to regulate the prices of BT cotton seeds during the forthcoming three-day assembly session starting September 25.
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\n The Gujarat Cotton Seed (regulation of supply, distribution, sell and fixation of sell price) Bill-2014, when passed, will control the prices of cotton seed and ensure that the benefit reaches farmers of the state. The move is seen as a permanent solution to tide over the high cotton seed prices.<\/p>\n
The proposed Bill will help in cotton seed distribution, price control & regulation, fixing selling price and maintaining quality.<\/p>\n
Gujarat will thus become the second state after Andhra Pradesh to have such an Act. Maharashtra has recently passed an ordinance to this effect.<\/p>\n
Gujarat, a leader in the production of cotton, was unable to convince seed producers to lower prices. It was then that the state decided to bring in the ordinance in June. Now, the state wants to close the issue for ever with an Act.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Bill includes hybrid, non-hybrid and BT cotton seed. The sowing of BT cotton seed is maximum in the state, making it all the more necessary for us to control the prices. Therefore, we had to take the decision,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said a senior official of the state\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s agriculture department.<\/p>\n
The government will form a high-level committee, which will keep an eye on various factors like production cost and farmers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 problems. The committee will give suggestions to agriculture department about the price mechanism. As per the Act, the violators can face a three-year jail term among other penalty.<\/p>\n
BT cotton seed sales stood at 20.50 lakh packets in 2014 season. Gujarat produced record 100 lakh bales with sowing area of 22 lakh hectares.<\/p>\n
AP and Maharashtra reduced prices of BT cotton two months ago. Gujarat government had also announced to reduce the prices by Rs 100 to Rs 650 per packet. The proposed Bill will help the farmers from next season.<\/p>\n
The penetration of BT seeds is increasing in the country during 2014. Of more than 85 lakh hectares under cotton cultivation, BT variety accounts for nearly 60 lakh hectares. India is one of the top users in BT cotton seed variants in the world after China.<\/p>\n
This year, sowing has surpassed the 100% area in Gujarat. The three-year average has been 22.68 lakh hectares, while for the current year, sowing has been carried out on 24.16 lakh hectares, as per the government figures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Economic Times, India AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government will bring a special Bill to regulate the prices of BT cotton seeds during the forthcoming three-day assembly session starting September 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n