More Bt,
equal or fewer numbers of suicides
However, many organizations continue to hammer on about the
fact that Bt cotton is to blame. However, anyone who looks at
the figures will reach a different conclusion. Namely that the
number of suicides across India are not related to the significant
increase in the adoption grade of Bt cotton (see figure 10).
The same trend is observed at the level of individual cotton
provinces, particularly Maharashtra and Gujarat (see figure 11).
Since the introduction of Bt cotton in 2002, the number of farmers
planting Bt cotton has risen exponentially, whilst the suicide
figures have remained at the same level.
Furthermore, the IFPRI study shows that there is in fact a decrease
in the number of suicides in the provinces of Madhya Pradesh and
Karmataka. It seems extremely unlikely that Bt cotton is the main
driving factor behind the suicide of Indian farmers.