Added Bhupinder Singh Mann of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Punjab) and former Rajya Sabha MP, “India has been the only country where farmers have been first shown the merits of Bt cotton and then have had to suffer the agony of being disallowed to benefit from it. Today the message from farmers is very clear, let us grow what we want to grow.”

Bt cotton is an insect-protected variety of cottonseed into which a gene from a soil-borne bacterium Bacillus Thuringiensis containing a protein that kills the bollworm, its most common pest, is introduced. But critics of this genetically-modified seed feared that it might cross-pollinate other varieties, or that the crop may develop resistance after some years. Despite having the largest acreage under cotton (25 per cent of the global cotton area), India ranks third among the cotton growing companies. The yields are the lowest - around 300 kg per hectare against a world average of 580 hectares.

This decision comes at a time when cotton farming in India is going through unprecedented crises with a substantial part of the crop falling prey to pests every year. With each failure comes an even bigger harvest of suicides among the cultivators.

The Bt debate dates back to 1998, when a private firm, Mahyco, began field trials under the supervision of ICAR and the Department of Biotechnology. The issue took a new turn in September 2001 when it was learnt that farmers planted unapproved varieties of Bt cotton over 11,000 acres in Gujarat and 300 acres in Andhra Pradesh.

The unapproved variety had been planted in Gujarat for two years, but it came to light only when the rest of the crop was hit by bollworm and these varieties continued to flourish.

When this was realised the Central government had ordered burning of standing crops and seizure of seeds worth Rs 105 crore. However, pressure from the state government prevented this move.

On the eve of the crucial GEAC meeting, various concerned parties like policy analysts, farmers and farmer leaders came together at a press conference organised by the Liberty Institute in New Delhi.

Farmers from India’s cotton growing states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab had placed their support firmly behind Bt cotton, saying that this high yielding variety could mean the difference between a prosperous or bleak future for those who grow cotton.

They had insisted that the biotechnology revolution had the potential to transform the productivity of India’s cotton farmlands and alleged that those who opposed the introduction of Bt cotton and biotechnology in agriculture do not derive their livelihood from agriculture and have nothing to lose if it was disallowed. The farmers has also demanded that they be given a chance to grow this variety and take full responsibility for the consequences, if any. They had demanded the freedom to access the technology of their choice.

It should be noted that cotton accounts for more than half the total amount of money spent in India on pesticides, a cost that would sharply fall if pest-resistant varieties of seeds were to be planted. Bt cotton is extensively used world-over. Half the acreage under cotton plantation in the US is given over to Bt cotton; China in 2000 had increased the area under GM cotton more than 10 times over two years, to 28 per cent of its total cotton acreage. Countries like Argentina, South Africa and Mexico are following suit.

TAJ Report

BACK

Print this Page

Email this Page

Post your Opinion

Rate this article