Study of Cost Benefit Analysis of Managing Bt. Cotton Farming with Special Reference to Vidarbha

About forty lakh hectare of land is under cotton cultivation in Maharashtra. Once known as the prosperous cotton-belt; today the irony is that the state tops the list when it comes to suicides by farmers. Further, almost all of them are cotton farmers mostly from Vidarbha. At present, Vidarbha produces two quintals of cotton per acre, against the national average of five quintals per acre. There is a need for in-depth analysis to find the reasons behind the pathetic condition of the farmers. Also, the cost of inputs on managing Bt cotton farming needs to be arrived at along with overall cost-benefit analysis of managing with Bt farming. This paper tries to throw some light on the same with special focus on effects of shifting to Bt. Cotton farming in Vidarbha