The maximum sale price (MSP) of both transgenic Bt1 and Bt2 cotton seeds (450 gram packets) has been raised by Rs. 180 each by the Andhra Pradesh government for 2011-12.
With the increase in prices, the price of Bt1 cotton seeds has increased from Rs. 650 to Rs. 830 per packet. Similarly, the price of Bt2 cotton, which was Rs. 750 earlier, has now been increased to Rs. 930 per packet. This is less than the MSP of Rs. 850 for Bt1 and Rs. 1,050 for Bt2 sought by seed companies.
With this revision, the MSP in the State has been made at par with the prices announced by the Gujarat government in April 2011.
The Andhra Pradesh State government has also revised the MSP of non-Bt cotton seed price to Rs. 500 per packet. The government has stated that production cost, trade margin, trait value and the opinion and concerns of seed and cotton growing farmers were taken into consideration prior to arriving at a decision concerning the revision of prices.
It may be recalled that the existing prices of Bt cotton seeds were first fixed by the Andhra Pradesh government in 2008 and then the same was fixed by other cotton growing States in the country. Incidentally, Andhra Pradesh is the third largest cotton growing State and more than half of the cotton seed of the country is produced in the State.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
marketing@alchempro.com
