Company had also approached the state government with a proposal to share the compensation payable to the farmers, added the official.
State government was not against GM technology and is willing to adopt any technology that can give a better deal to our farmers but are not in favor of the malpractices of the company, said the Minister.
It is learnt that the production of cotton in the state has gone up in spite of the so-called failure of Bt cotton in one district.
During 2005-2006 kharif seasons, the state produced about 22.2 lakh bales of cotton against 21.9 lakh bales although the cultivation area has come down to 9.7 lakh hectares compared to 11.8 lakh hectares during the same period in the previous year as per government records.
Failure of Monsanto seeds in Warangal had affected the entire production as the government was expecting a higher yield during 2005-2006.
The Mahyco Monsanto Biotech India (MMB) until recently was the sole licensee/patent holder of Bt cottonseeds in the country.
Company claims that the seeds had the strength to fight bollworms within the plant, reduce the use of insecticides and above all give higher yield than other cotton varieties.
Bt cotton is the only government-approved, genetically modified (GM) crop in India, though clearances have been given for only specific varieties of it.
Farmers in AP used Bt cotton for the first time for the kharif crop of 2002.
MoU between the state government and 40-odd seed companies operating in the state, including Mahyco-Monsanto, makes it obligatory for the companies to offer damages to farmers only in cases of failure of germination and lack of genetic purity of the seeds.
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