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Field versus Farm in Warangal: Bt Cotton, Higher Yields, and Larger Questions

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  • Stone, Glenn Davis

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Summary A longitudinal anthropological study of cotton farming in Warangal District of Andhra Pradesh, India, compares a group of villages before and after adoption of Bt cotton. It distinguishes "field-level" and "farm-level" impacts. During this five-year period yields rose by 18% overall, with greater increases among poor farmers with the least access to information. Insecticide sprayings dropped by 55%, although predation by non-target pests was rising. However shifting from the field to the historically-situated context of the farm recasts insect attacks as a symptom of larger problems in agricultural decision-making. Bt cotton's opponents have failed to recognize real benefits at the field level, while its backers have failed to recognize systemic problems that Bt cotton may exacerbate.

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  • Stone, Glenn Davis, 2011. "Field versus Farm in Warangal: Bt Cotton, Higher Yields, and Larger Questions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 387-398, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:39:y:2011:i:3:p:387-398
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    4. Kouser, Shahzad & Qaim, Matin & Abedullah, 2015. "Bt cotton and employment effects for female agricultural laborers in Pakistan: An application of double-hurdle model," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212014, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
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    7. Yashobanta Parida & Devi Prasad Dash & Parul Bhardwaj & Joyita Roy Chowdhury, 2018. "Effects of Drought and Flood on Farmer Suicides in Indian States: An Empirical Analysis," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 159-180, July.
    8. Jessie K. Luna, 2020. "‘Pesticides are our children now’: cultural change and the technological treadmill in the Burkina Faso cotton sector," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(2), pages 449-462, June.
    9. Kouser, Shahzad & Qaim, Matin, 2011. "Impact of Bt cotton on pesticide poisoning in smallholder agriculture: A panel data analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 2105-2113, September.
    10. Wu, Qi & Merel, Pierre & Sexton, Richard J., 2022. "Economic and Climate Determinants of Farmer Suicide in the United States," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322342, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Bhim Reddy & Ranjit Prakash & Busam Monika Reddy, 2021. "Dynamics of Agricultural Labour in Small-Farm Economy: Work, Gender and Technologies in Cotton Production in Telangana," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(1), pages 49-71, March.
    12. Sarthak Gaurav & Srijit Mishra, 2012. "To Bt or not to Bt? Risk and uncertainty considerations in technology assessment," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2012-001, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    13. Qiao, Fangbin & Huang, Jikun & Wang, Xiaobing, 2017. "Fifteen Years of Bt Cotton in China: Results from Household Surveys," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 351-359.
    14. Fischer, Klara, 2016. "Why new crop technology is not scale-neutral—A critique of the expectations for a crop-based African Green Revolution," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1185-1194.
    15. Klara Fischer & Elisabeth Ekener-Petersen & Lotta Rydhmer & Karin Edvardsson Björnberg, 2015. "Social Impacts of GM Crops in Agriculture: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-23, July.
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