A Forgotten History of Cotton in India - Part 2

The Bt Cotton Tragedy and the Desi Cotton Revival

In the 1990s, India experienced an economic crisis, and the cotton sector was no exception: Indian cotton was severely affected by harmful insects, particularly the bollworm ( Helicoverpa armigera ), which destroyed a large part of the crop. Farmers used pesticides in large quantities, which was costly and often ineffective.

To overcome the crisis, international aid (primarily the IMF and the World Bank) made its assistance conditional on the implementation of liberal reforms. The Indian elites and rulers of the time, educated at Harvard, Oxford, or Cambridge, were in favor of this.

Thanks to this market opening and the funding that went into it, Monsanto entered the Indian market and offered Bt cotton in the early 2000s. The latter was presented as a revolution: this genetically modified cotton incorporates a gene from a soil bacterium, which allows the plant to continuously produce an insecticidal protein that specifically targets the larvae of the cotton bollworm, one of the main pests.

On paper, the idea seems perfect: by consuming the leaves or bolls of Bt cotton, the larvae ingest the toxin, which causes their rapid death. Less waste, fewer pesticides, more yield: the dream.

But in practice, several problems have arisen. First, Bt cotton was not developed from Indian varieties ( Gossypium arboreum or herbaceum ), but from Gossypium hirsutum , the long-staple American cotton. This species, although valued for its yarn suitable for industrial spinning, is much more fragile in the dry climates of India and requires a lot of water and fertilizer to achieve its optimal yields.

Second, the Bt toxin only targets one type of insect. However, by eliminating this primary pest, other secondary pests—aphids, thrips, whiteflies—see their populations explode, because they no longer compete. Farmers therefore continue to use pesticides, but often at even higher doses, and on pests that are sometimes more difficult to eliminate.

Finally, as with any organism subject to selective pressure, the targeted insects develop resistance: In less than ten years, in several regions, populations of cotton worms capable of surviving on Bt cotton have appeared.

Farmers' debt levels have become unbearable, with debt levels in some states exceeding 80%, and many farmers have committed suicide when harvests were insufficient to repay loans. Between 2002 and 2018, more than 300,000 Indian farmers committed suicide , often by ingesting the very pesticides they used on their fields.

But while the effects of the introduction of Bt cotton are still being felt, we are now witnessing a revival. In several regions, farmers' organizations and NGOs are working to reintroduce indigenous cotton varieties known as desi —drought-resistant, requiring no chemical inputs—and to reconnect this type of agriculture to the artisanal sector of hand spinning and weaving. In Kutch, Gujarat, Kala cotton is making a tentative comeback. In Ponduru, despite the gradual disappearance of weavers, a few families continue to spin the local red cotton. In Maharashtra, farmers' collectives are once again testing varieties such as Wagad and Punasa, adapted to their climate.

This revival won't happen overnight, and it will likely remain expensive at first, reserved for consumers aware of the ecological and human impact of their choices. But it opens a path: that of a textile that respects the earth, the water, and the hands that make it. And then reviving desi cotton also means reviving craftsmanship, since this short-fiber cotton can only be spun by hand: khadi, this emblematic fabric of Indian resilience, is once again being honored by designers, to our great delight!