Cotton Cultivation in India Since the Green Revolution: Technology, Policy, and Performance

Distinct phases of technology and policy have distinct effects on agricultural performance. Cotton is a useful case for study in this regard, as its cultivation has been frequently subjected to changes with respect to technology and policy action. The most recent of these is the cultivation of Bt cotton. For purposes of this paper, we have divided the period from 1976 to 2010 into three phases: the early hybrid phase (1976–7 to 1991–2), the late hybrid phase (1992–3 to 2001–2), and the Bt phase (2002–3 to 2009–10). The use of such inputs as human labour, machine power, and fertilizer increased over the early hybrid phase, fell during the late hybrid phase, and increased during the Bt phase. At the national level, yields grew at about 2.3 per cent per year in the early hybrid phase, declined to –2.6 per cent per year in the late hybrid phase, and rose sharply to 12.9 per cent in the Bt phase. These changes had implications for the costs of production and for farm profitability. This paper develops, for the first time, an input price index specific to cotton cultivation in India. The study highlights the role of favourable public policy in realising the potential for higher yields that technological advancement provides. Focusing on the development of Bt varieties, which are suited to low-input regimes and marginal environments, rather than on hybrids can help accelerate the social welfare potential of new technology in cotton cultivation. The public sector can play a greater role and responsibility in such an attempt.