Indian govt cuts Bt cotton seed price to Rs 740 per packet

The Indian government has reduced the maximum sale price of transgenic Bt cotton seeds from Rs 800 per packet earlier, to Rs 740 for the second successive year, to help cotton growers hit by pest attacks. The royalty fee payable by seed firms to technology developer Monsanto Mahyco Biotech (India) Ltd (MMBL) has also been slashed to Rs 39 per packet from Rs 49.

The new prices will be effective from the 2018 kharif season beginning June. A packet of Bt cotton seeds is of 450 gram. The move will benefit 8 million cotton growers, but will reduce the margin of domestic seed companies and MMBL, according to a news agency report.

According to an agriculture ministry notification, the maximum sale price has been reduced for bollgard (BG)-II version, but for the BG-I version, the price remains unchanged at Rs 635 per packet with no trait value.

The government started controlling prices of cotton seeds, including the transgenic versions, by fixing a uniform maximum sale price from March 2016.