GM cotton acreage to touch 80 pct in India

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is likely to grow genetically modified (GM) cotton on 80 percent of its total cultivated area under the fibre in the next 2-3 years, a global research body said on Monday.

The country, the world's second-biggest cotton producer, hopes to produce a record output of 31 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) in the crop year to September as farmers plant more transgenic seeds.

Indian farmers, who grow cotton on an average 9.06 million hectares, produced 28 million bales last year.

"In 2007, Bt cotton area went up to 6.2 million hectares from 3.2 million hectares in 2006," Clive James, chairman of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, told a news conference.

The organisation is a non-profit research body that advocates large-scale use and application of genetically modified crops.

"Rapid strides that India has made in cotton production since the country embraced Bt cotton and the fact that it has overtaken the U.S. speak volumes about the technology," he said.

India allowed commercial cultivation of bacillus thuringiensis or Bt cotton in 2002, leading to vehement protests from social activists who say genetically modified crops are a health hazard, spoil soil texture and harm the environment.

Government officials say India will increasingly turn to laboratories to secure food supplies as the country struggles to feed more than one billion people.

A rapidly expanding economy and increasing population have fuelled food consumption, while new industrial units and rapid migration to cities are turning farm land for other use.