Even as the government remains undecided over the commercial release of Bt brinjal, Bt cotton now constitutes about 90 per cent of the total cotton crop in the country.

“Bt cotton constitutes nearly 90 per cent of total area under cotton cultivation. Out of the total area of 111.42 lakh hectares under cotton cultivation, 98.54 lakh hectares are under Bt cotton,” the Agriculture Ministry said in an statement on Monday, underlining the importance of Bt cotton in the rise in cotton production.

The state-wise cotton crop data released by the ministry for 2010-11 indicated that Bt cotton has emerged as the largest cotton crop in all the major cotton producing states — Andhra Pradesh (over 98 per cent), Maharashtra (95 per cent), Gujarat (over 81 per cent).

The cotton output during 2010-11 stood at 334.25 lakh bales (of 170 kg each) from 111.42 lakh hectares as compared to 242.25 lakh bales in the previous year from 110 lakh hectares. This marks a jump of about 38 per cent over previous year.