BT COTTON ADOPTION AND WELLBEING OF FARMERS IN PAKISTAN

This entry is cross-posted on IFPRI’s Pakistan Strategy Support Program website. If you’d like more information on the PSSP program, please visit pssp.ifpri.info.

Cotton production plays a significant role in Pakistan’s agriculture and economic growth. It contributes about 8 percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, 17 percent in total employment generation and about 54 percent in foreign exchange earnings. Despite being the fourth largest producer and third largest consumer of cotton, Pakistan did not commercially approve Bt cotton varieties until 2010. 60 percent of the cotton area in 2007 was operating unapproved and unregulated adoption of Bt varieties.

The recent study on Bt Cotton Adoption and Wellbeing of Farmers in Pakistan sheds light on these issues and examines three main aspects:

• Economic impact on the wellbeing of farmers after introduction of commercially approved Bt Cotton variety
• The varying effect of Bt technology in diverse agro-climatic conditions
• Yield gains for farmers according to the size of farm they own. For example, seeing impact on small scale farmers that own up to 5 acres of land versus large scale farmers that possess more than 5 acres of land.

To read more, download the full report at Bt Cotton Adoption and Wellbeing of Farmers in Pakistan