PPP Special 08 - Institut für Entwicklungs- und Agrarökonomik

25
With two applications on average, farmers’ pesticide use on Bt cotton
was only marginally less than on conventional cotton. Many farmers
tended to overdose pesticides instead of increase the number of
applications (see Table 4.9).
Table 4.9:
Pest
Bollworm
Pest
Sucking
Pest
Number of pesticide applications and percent
overdose for Bollworm and Sucking Pests, 2002
Number of
Applications
Non-Bt Cotton
Overdosed
Applications [%]
Number of
Applications
Bt Cotton
Overdosed
Applications [%]
86 43.0 59 45.7
112 34.8 120 13.3
Source: Field Survey, 2002
Nearly half of all applications against bollworm pests were overdosed
for both Bt and non-Bt cotton. However, in Bt cotton overdosing was
less frequent for sucking pests.