Highest HTBT cotton sowing in coming kharif: Shetkari Sanghatana
April 06, 2021
Shetkari Sanghatana (SS), the apex farmers’ body in Maharashtra, has claimed that 50 per cent of cotton sown in the State in the coming kharif season will be herbicide-tolerant Bt (HTBT) cotton, the cultivation of which is banned in India.
In 2020 kharif, about 42. 86 lakh hectare in Maharashtra was under cotton cultivation, that is 29 per cent of the total land under kharif cultivation in the State; .25-35 per cent of the cotton fields in the State have reportedly been put under HTBT cultivation in the last few seasons.
“The movement for HTBT cotton that started in 2019 has gained momentum and now farmers are cultivating more and more HTBT cotton. This kharif, 50 per cent cotton grown in the State will be HTBT. Now, we don’t have to launch a programme or movement to encourage farmers to grow HTBT. Farmers themselves are now inclined towards HTBT,” said Anil Ghanwat, president of SS, told
January 13, 2021
Anil Ghanwat×
“My stand to support the law was as a member of my organisation,” says Shetkari Sanghatana president
Anil Ghanwat is one of the members of the Supreme Court (SC) panel on farm laws. He is president of Shetkari Sanghatana, the apex farmers’ body in Maharashtra founded by the late Sharad Joshi. For over 40 years, Shetkari Sanghatana has been advocating that farmers must get “freedom of access to markets and to technology”.
Ghanwat, who is Joshi’s staunch follower, believes that farming could be profitable if farmers have access to free markets without the government’s intervention. His appointment by SC is being criticised by other farmer groups and opponents of farm laws on the grounds that he is already a supporter of the law. Speaking to