People's Democracy

IN a statement issued from New Delhi on December 10 by its president S Ramachandran Pillai and general secretary K Varadarajan, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) expressed its strong resentment at the news of dissemination of Bt Cotton seeds in some parts of the country. It has been learnt that Mahyco, a private seed company and a partner of the multinational Monsanto, is conducting trials of genetically modified cotton (Bt Cotton) and disseminating it among farmers even without the approval of the ministry of agriculture’s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee. There is a report of large-scale distribution of Bt Cotton seeds among the farmers of Gujarat and Maharashtra by Mahyco and Nav Bharat seed companies in a clandestine way.

Though the productivity of the crop is reported to be good because of less effect of pests like American bull worm, no study has been made about its effects on environment, the farmers’ health and the livestock. Their claim is that the genetically modified cotton variety has itself been transformed into a mini-pesticide factory. Whenever the bull worm bites into the Bt Cotton, it literally commits suicide as the toxin produced by the plant instantly kills it. It is to be noted that hundreds of farmers have been forced to commit suicide due to crop failure in the wake of attacks by pests and insects, coupled with the failure of spurious pesticides and insecticides which the farmers had used on a large scale.

But the AIKS said this does not mean that the government has a right to play with the environment, the people’s lives and the livestock. The seed companies are bound by the law of the land to get final approval from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee before selling any such seeds to the farmers. It is also to be noted that the Monsanto holds the patent right of Bt Cotton. Consequently it will have the total monopoly on this cotton seed if we introduce it in our country.

The AIKS has demanded a probe into all these shady deals, prosecution of the erring officials and companies, and adequate compensation for the farmers. (INN)