Representatives of CSA said they planned the study after they met a number of Bt cotton farmers who said they would abandon not only Bt cotton but also cotton farming entirely. The farmers said they were unable to tackle the increasing use of pesticides that the crop required coupled with its declining yield.

Executive Director, CSA, G V Ramanjaneyulu said the study will start in December this year and Secunderabad-based Centre for Sustainable

Agriculture (CSA) will lead the research team comprising institutions like Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), Gujarat Institute of Developmental Research (GIDR) and the Centre for Environment Education (CEE).

The decision regarding the study was taken in Ahmedabad on Saturday at a CSA conference on GM crops.

Ramanjaneyulu and Kavitha Kuruganti (of CSA) were in Vadodara on Sunday for a discussion about GM crops with farmers and consumers.

According to Ramanjaneyulu, the study aims at finding out the effects of GM crops.

“Nobody knows the exact effects of GM crops and Gujarat is an ideal state for the study because BT cotton was introduced here first seven years ago,” said Ramanjaneyulu.

He also added that during their recent visit to Gujarat, they found that farmers, of late, had been facing problems with BT cotton.

Kuruganti said so far no study has been done in Gujarat about several aspects of BT cotton.

“There has been no research on the pests and diseases that afflict BT cotton or how cultivation of GM crops impact our health,” said Kuruganti.

She added that the profit margins on BT crops could drop this year onwards.