Redesigning the Production of the Bacillus thuringiensis Bio-Pesticide within the Context of Subsistence Agriculture in Andhra Pradesh, India

Biotechnologies are social constructions. The way in which biotechnology is designed, developed and deployed depends on the actors involved in these processes and the strategies and choices employed by these actors. This article assesses the re-designing process of the production of a biopesticide based on the extracts of the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) by local networks. The new Bt product attempts to address the Castor-Semilooper management problems of resource poor farmers in the rain-fed agriculture systems of Mahaboobnagar and Nalgonda in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is argued that the development of biotechnologies in a local self-organized environment and the incorporation of certain social issues in the new products could lead to technologies attuned to the local potentialities and constrains. During the redesigning process the new Bt product has acquired a new material form and political social content.