In the light of rural distress caused by drought and unseasonal rains, the Maharashtra government has appealed to seed companies to reduce the price of Bt cotton seeds. Bt cotton accounts for 60 to 70 per cent of total turnover of the rapidly growing seed industry in the country.

Though there is no paucity of Bt cotton seeds in the market this season, seed companies say they cannot reduce prices. They say production cost of seeds has risen and that there has been no reduction in the royalty fee that they have to pay. Seed companies had sold 4.5 crore packets of Bt cotton seeds in 2014-15, one-third of which was sold in Maharashtra, the state that has the highest area under cotton in the country and ranks second in production of the fiber crop.

Companies have already been fighting legal battles on the right of the state government to control seed prices. Sale of cotton seeds in the northern region, comprising Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, is almost over. In Maharashtra, only about seven to eight per cent of seeds have been sold in areas where cotton is sown early. Most of the seed sale will take place in the first week of June.