Knowledge and Adoption of Farmers towards Cultivation of Bt. Cotton

Bt cotton has been developed by transferring crystal protein gene (Cry 1 AC) from a soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis var. Kurstaki into cotton. The gene has been transferred to cotton through agro bacterium mediated transformation. The cry protein produced in transgenic cotton is toxic to all the bollworms. The commercial cultivation of Bt cotton in the world first began in 1996In India, after extensive testing of Bt cotton hybrids (with Cry1 Ac gene) in All India Coordinated Cotton Improvement Project (AICCIP) and farmers field, Government of India has approved commercial cultivation of Bt cotton hybrid with effect from 2002 crop season. However, still there exist a wide gap between the production potential and the actual production realized by the cotton growers. This may be due to partial adoption or Knowledge of recommended scientific cultivation by the cotton growers. But no systematic efforts have been made to study the gap existing in various components of cotton cultivation. Therefore, the present study has been planned to know the Knowledge and Adoption of recommended Bt cotton production technology among the farmers.