Monsanto India Ltd has plans to introduce 20 new hybrids of Bt cotton seeds. The company currently has 20 such hybrids in India.
Felipe Osorio, Managing Director, Monsanto India, insisted that the target would be achieved soon.
Company also plans to start a new plant to produce corn seeds that will cater to both Indian and Asia Pacific markets and will be operational in 12-18 months.
Felipe commented on misconception surrounding the use of Bt cotton by saying that the success of the crop depended on many other factors like proper use of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, irrigation and nature of seeds.
Felipe said that subsidies rendered the farmers uncompetitive and so should be avoided. Instead, funds should be granted for developing infrastructure, proper warehousing system and good irrigation mechanism, and so on.
Monsanto is a global leader in agricultural solutions and has a corporate office at Mumbai.
Monsanto's work in India began over 50 years ago, soon after independence.
Cotton provides livelihood to over 60 million people in the country and contributes to about 29.8 percent of Indian agriculture gross domestic product.
India has the world's largest acreage of cotton, which is planted across approximately 22.5 million acres.
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