"B. The cost of growing genetically modified cotton is rising" will be explained.

The genetically modified seeds that are currently a big problem in India are cotton seeds developed by the American company Monsanto. The price was four times higher than the F1 (First and Final) seeds that farmers had previously purchased. Why did farmers buy such expensive seeds?

Cotton farmers purchase seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides before they begin cultivation. It takes six months or more to ship the cotton and cash in as cotton. Cotton farmers in less developed countries, such as India, are far more likely to live for the day. Put another way, it is because they live below the absolute poverty level that they are able to grow cotton, which has low labor costs and requires a large amount of manpower during harvest.

Cotton farmers at seed retailers in India say they are encouraged to do this. If you buy genetically modified seeds, you can pay later, you can more than double your yield, and you don't have to buy pesticides because pests don't bother you," are tempting propositions for farmers living on the edge. The farmers find the phrase, "Seed is expensive, but it pays for itself well," to be very attractive.

But the world is not that simple. Genetically modified seeds are sold as a set with fertilizers and pesticides. GMO seeds are supposed to be "high-fertilizer" (use a lot of fertilizer). It is true that GMO cotton balls are very large. To produce a large amount of fiber, a large amount of nutrients are required. Therefore, you are buying chemical fertilizers that have been "improved to GMO cotton".

If you fertilize heavily, weeds will inevitably grow in abundance. If the weeds are left as they are, the nutrients that would otherwise go to the cotton will be absorbed by the weeds. If this happens, the cotton balls will be smaller when harvested.

Pulling "weeds" by hand is hard work. Labor costs are also high. This is where the need for herbicides comes in. This herbicide is a non-selective glyphosate herbicide. All plants exposed to herbicide droplets die. Plants grown from genetically modified seeds are explained that there is no problem because they have been modified so that their growth is not affected by exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides.

When GMO seed was first introduced, yields increased significantly. The number of cotton farmers adopting GMO seed increased rapidly until 95% of Indian cotton farmers were using GMO seed.

However, around five years after introduction, the cotton yield gradually decreases. The "pests" also begin to eat it, and more herbicides have to be applied to the "weeds."