2012-05-18
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The Indians claim they were promised certain yields. However, no yield can truly be promised by any company regardless of whether the seed is genetically modified or not. Growing conditions and management have a direct effect on yield, yet the Indian farmers seem to have forgotten that. In an example of how misguided their views are about growing GM cotton, the head of the Central Institute for Cotton Research, Keshav Raj Kranthi claims GM cotton is more susceptible to bacteria. He claims GM varieties consume more water and nutrients, leading to soil depletion, which means more fertilizer is needed. Kranthi has it all backwards.
2012-05-14
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Three and a half years ago, at a time when the controversy over the use of genetically modified seeds was raging across India, a newspaper [The Times of India] story painted a heartening picture of the technology’s success. “There are no suicides here and people are prospering on agriculture. The switchover from the conventional cotton to Bollgard or Bt Cotton here has led to a social and economic transformation in the villages [of Bhambraja and Antargaon] in the past three-four years.” So heartening was this account that nine months ago, the same story was run again in the same newspaper, word for word. Never mind that the villagers themselves had a different story to tell. “There have been 14 suicides in our village,” a crowd of agitated farmers in Bhambraja told shocked members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture in March this year. “Most of them after Bt came here.” The Hindu was able to verify nine that had occurred between 2003 and 2009.
2012-05-14
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Advocating the use of more genetically modified crops, the Association of Biotech Led Enterprises-Agriculture Group has said biotech crops would help in enhancing yield substantially. ABLE-AG is an association of biotech companies in India which aims to accelerate the pace of biotechnology in India. ABLE-AG executive director N Seetarama, pointing at the global hunger index, which ranks India 67 among a list of 81 countries and also fact with introduction of Food Security Bill, said biotech crops was the answer to the burgeoning demand of foodgrains in the coming years.
2012-05-11
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The Supreme Court on Thursday sought form an expert committee a report on desirability of the field trials for genetically modified crops within three months. A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia asked the committee to submit the report on whether field trials for GMO can be completely banned and if they are to be allowed what should be the protocol. The bench directed the committee to submit an interim report on the issue within three months if the final one is not possible. The court passed the orders on a PIL filed in 2004 by NGO, Gene Campaign and anti-GMO activist Aruna Rodrigues, who had sought a complete moratorium on field trial for GMO.
2012-05-11
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Tension prevailed at some places in Haveri district on Tuesday, due to protests and stampede during distribution of Bt cotton seeds. The increase in demand for the ‘Kanaka’ variety of seeds and shortage of supply led to the rush. In Haveri city, police resorted to mild lathicharge as around 12,000 farmers fell over each other to collect the seeds. [...] Nearly 28,000 packets of ‘kanaka seeds are required in the district, while only 18,051 were supplied, leading to the rush.
2012-05-11
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In a scenario dominated by Bt cotton, only those farmers in Adilabad seem to be safe and happy who have practically given up cotton cultivation. Many farmers, especially those with smaller holdings, are finding the economics of Bt cotton to be really deadly. Some 23 suicides by cotton farmers have been reported in the district since November last year. In a majority of these instances, the farmers were caught in debt traps. [...] “In order to clear the bank crop loan of Rs. 70,000, my father had recently taken a private loan for the same amount at 10 per cent per month rate of interest. Though there is still some time to go before the banks start issuing crop loans, the pressure of debts was unbearable for him,” said elder son Devendra as he provided an insight into the economics fostered by Bt cotton.
2012-05-11
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It is clear that the mounting evidence that is coming into the public domain, including the internal advisory from the agriculture ministry linking farm distress and suicides with Bt cotton, is causing panic among GM promoters and their lobbies in the country as their false hype and failed promises lie exposed. Just two [...] common-sense questions are asked to bust the myth: how can Bt technology increase yields when the pest incidence itself, across crops and not just cotton, has been low over the past decade? Two, how does one explain cotton yield increases in India that have happened at an impressive rate when the same is not present in any other country that has adopted Bt cotton?
2012-05-09
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The problems and issues related to Bt cotton production in India have been well-documented. But, what is less known is the relationship between Bt cotton seed farming and child labour. A study ‘Dirty Cotton’ by a team of researchers from Jawaharlal Nehru University and research agency Global March has established this link. [...] The report mentions that in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, the worst states in the cultivation season of 2009-10, around 3,81,500 children below the age of 18 years were found engaged as labourers in cotton seed farms. The authors found that profits earned from turning cotton into the final product is 850 per cent. The share of child labour in this is merely 0.8 per cent.
2012-04-26
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Increasing yields will help farmers harvest a record 270 million tonnes of grains in the 2016/17 crop year, leaving an exportable surplus of 10 million tonnes, Farm Secretary Prabeer Kumar Basu told Reuters. India, the world’s second-biggest rice and wheat producer, is struggling to store grains as bins overflow after years of bumper harvests. [...] “There is no need for us to adopt switch on, switch off policy on exports of grains as we can be a regular supplier of 10 million tonnes by 2016/17,” Basu said. “At least, we can feed our neighbours.”
2012-04-26
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The state government has decided not to purchase and distribute Monsanto maize seeds to tribal farmers any more following fears expressed by them that these seeds could cause male and female infertility. Instead, these farmers can buy any of the government-certified seeds from open market and then claim subsidy from their respective district agriculture officers. The decision was taken jointly by the state’s agriculture and the tribal ministry on Wednesday following written complaints by tribal farmers from across the state.
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