Mahyco-Monsanto (India) Ltd, the company that developed the first genetically modified Bt cotton to be grown in India, claimed on Tuesday that their varieties increased farmers' incomes by about Rs 7,000 per acre (roughly Rs 17,500 per hectare).

These varieties also cut down pesticide use by 65 to 70 per cent while giving an extra yield of 30 per cent, the company said.

According to a company release, the data collected by them from a large number of farmers in six southern states showed that the three Bt cotton hybrids released last year had lived up to the growers' expectations.

All three -- MECH 12, MECH 162 and MECH 184 -- had been tested extensively for six years before being approved by the government for cultivation.

Four teams from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, comprising of officials from the department of biotechnology and the ministries of environment, agriculture and health, besides scientists from the Central Institute for Cotton Research, monitored the crops after they had been planted.

"The performance of the three hybrids has shown that the Bt gene is effective against all three prevalent species of bollworms. It allows the avoidance of at least three sprays for bollworm management," the company quotes CICR director CD Mayee as saying.

Mahyco-Monsanto got the approval for the commercialisation of Bt cotton in six states in 2002 -- Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. While it had released the yield data for five of the states earlier, the data for Tamil Nadu was released on Tuesday.

In spite of the monsoons being disappointing for Tamil Nadu in 2002, farmers in almost all cotton-growing belts who had planted the Bollgard Bt cotton variety reported significant benefits, the company said.

There was a dramatic reduction in the number of insecticide sprays to control bollworms, along with a larger number of bolls and higher yields. On an average, farmers had to provide one or two insecticide sprays to the Bt cotton, compared to the six to seven sprays required for a conventional hybrid, it added.

Farmers who cultivated Bollgard also reported higher yields in several districts in the state. The reduction in insecticide costs, along with higher yields, greatly boosted the farmers' profits, the company claimed.