From correspondents in Madhya Pradesh, India, 05:45 PM IST

Bhopal - The price of BT cottonseeds in Madhya Pradesh have been reduced by about 40 percent with immediate effect, official sources said.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made this announcement when it was brought to his notice during his visit to Khandwa Friday that the price in the state was almost double of that in neighbouring Maharashtra and Gujarat.

On Chouhan's advice, Agriculture Minister Chandrabhan Singh held a meeting with the representatives of the companies trading in Bt cotton and decided to fix the rates at par with other states.

According to farmers of Khandwa, while the price of a 450-gram pack of the seed was Rs.1,200-Rs.1,400 in Madhya Pradesh, the same was sold for Rs.750 in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Cotton is sown in about 650,000 hectares of land in Madhya Pradesh. Of this, farmers use Bt cottonseeds in about 150,000 hectares.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)