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Aurangabad, India
March 7, 2007
Source: Bio Spectrum Special
Annual Issue 2007
An interview with Madhav Dhande, Director of Operations,
Krishidhan
Seeds Ltd
 Madhav Dhande has been associated
with the agricultural sector for over three decades and is
renowned for his analysis of operation planning and forecasting.
He has been propelling Krishidhan's growth as a director-
operations since the last five years.
When did you launch Bt cottonseeds in India? And why and when
did you enter the Bt cotton area?
We launched Bt cotton in India during 2006. We decided to enter
into GM crops in 2001 though
the approval and regulatory procedure took a bit longer to
launch the products. We entered the Bt
cotton segment because of the continuous outbreak of bollworm
complex, indiscriminate use of
pesticides and drop in productivity, quality and profitability
to a farmer.
What were the challenges you faced during the launch of the Bt
cottonseeds in India?
Although we faced difficulty in conducting the trials on a very
large number of farmers' fields as
required by the regulatory process, the real bottleneck was when
ICAR and SAU accepted only
one genotype at a time. Delaying approvals to our other
promising genotypes suited for different
micro niches.
What is your current reach and how has the sales been?
During the first year of launch, we could sell Bt cotton only in
the central zone and southern
zone and we sold almost 1.5 lakh packets of Bt cotton. Based on
the performance of our
products in farmers' fields and enthusiasm, we anticipate a
significant market share of 13-15
percent.
Which technology do you use? Are you looking at other
technologies?
At present we are using Monsanto technology. Krishidhan is one
of the first three companies to
launch Bollgard-II, which is more effective than Bollgard-I and
while we continue to use Monsanto
technology, we are in the process of looking at other
technologies that would let us control
bollworms complex and other pests. We are also looking for
virus, herbicide and drought resistant
gene technology.
What were the initiatives you took to promote Bt cottonseeds
amongst the farming community
across the country during the initial period of launch?
Since the day one, i.e., before launch and during launch, we
promoted Bt cotton technology as an
"insurance" against Bollworm complex and introduced the concept
of "Isase behtar kuch nahi".
We highlighted the USP of BG-II as a "superior form of
technology, superior protection, and
maximum yield and profitability". We used this message to create
awareness. In addition to this,
we delivered and arranged more than 300 seminars on Bt cotton
particularly in the central and
south zones to educate farmers on a large scale. We also took
initiatives in educating the farmers
for Bt cultivation. Organizing such knowledge exchange programs
has made Krishidhan's Bt
cotton products as the most favorable and preferred choice of
cotton for farmers in both the
zones.
What are the current promotional activities? Have farmers
accepted Bt cotton? And what are the
challenges now?
The current set of promotional activities of Krishidhan is
mainly focused on "BG-II technology with
desired tolerance to sucking pest complex in our elite hybrid"
and certainly the method of
cultivation. Most of the farmers have happily accepted our Bt
hybrids that promise good
productivity and quality and our scientific teams and research
center is continuously working
towards further improvement and advancement of the available
technology.
Most of the big challenges faced by the industry in reaching Bt
cotton to farmers in rural areas are
partial control of different state governments on several issues
like fixing realistic prices,
packaging, and label claims, that too during the peak of the
season. The other challenge is to
deal with small players who respond to a cut-throat competition
by resorting to illegal or
substandard products.
Is there a conflict of interest between the state governments
and the seed companies?
In our perception, it is not a fight between corporate and the
state government where the primary
aim of both the industry and the government is to protect the
interest of the farmer. The industry's
view is that if prices are made unprofitable, it will bounce
back on farmers as he is involved in
both seed and commercial production. If the industry fails to
have organized seed production, the
farmers will not get remunerative prices and lack of quality
seeds will affect the income of farmers
growing commercial crop.
One has to understand that the higher prices of seeds are due to
great value addition done by
companies through the development of technology traits and
improved germplasm. If companies
do not get any incremental price for their superior germplasm,
it will be a serious setback for R&D
in private sectors. Hence, one expects government bodies to act
with reason and restraint.
How do you see the future for Bt cottonseeds in India and other
Bt food and feed crops?
The prospects of Bt cottonseed with value addition such as BG-II
technology with herbicide
resistance gene seem to be very promising. The prospect for Bt
food also appears to be very
good. We feel bringing insect resistance in other crops such as
brinjal, redgram, cabbage, tomato
and cauliflower will relatively decrease the amount of
insecticides used which would lead to better
human health and environment.
With more companies entering the Bt cotton space, do you foresee
a price war?
Not really, more the merrier as the technology will be able to
penetrate to all cotton farmers in
different agri-eco zones. The company will win on quality but
not on price, since the farmer has
become discriminating and prefers to plant quality product even
if the prices are higher.
What are the reasons for the mixed reactions on the Bt
cottonseeds in India?
Though Bt cotton was launched about five years back, it has been
surrounded by controversies.
In a democratic country like India, nobody can be prevented from
expressing their opinion.
However, the reality is that Bt improves the environment and it
has already reduced the pesticide
consumption and also improved the income of farmers. The boogie
of farmers' suicides or
environmental detoriation due to Bt cotton looks more like a
misinformation campaign.
Which are the other GM crops areas that you contemplate to
enter?
We would like to extend our research on oil seeds, pulses and
several vegetables. Our long-term
goals are to reach out to poor farmers' needs and rain-fed
conditions that includes maize,
sorghum, bajra, pulses and many more.
What is the status of your R&D for the GM crops?
We have consciously decided to spend minimum 12 percent or more
of our turnover in R&D
covering both basic and applied research in agribiotech. We are
in the process of establishing
"state-of-the-art" biotechnology laboratories in Special
Economic Zones (SEZs).
Do you feel the government should allow more GM crops in India?
Countries that have not compromised with the bio-safety but when
convinced that a gene is biosafe
and have not hesitated in deregulating are the ones that have
created maximum wealth in
the country.
Original document:
http://www.krishidhanseeds.com/the-first-three-companies.pdf
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