http://www.dnaindia.com/Agriculture minister for saying bye-bye to Bt cotton
DNA / Yogesh Pawar / Monday, June 24, 2013 10:11 IST
URL of the article: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_agriculture-minister-for-saying-bye-bye-to-bt-cotton_1852117-all
Kishore Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan
Samiti smelt a conspiracy in the state’s U-turn. “We need a CBI inquiry
into the revocation of the ban on Mahyco cotton seeds,” he said
Eight years after genetically modified Bt cotton was introduced,
following which 10,172 farmers killed themselves, state agriculture
minister Ramakrishna Vikhe-Patil told dna that it was a mistake.
“In
the long run, we want to eradicate it because it is water-intensive and
utterly unsuited to our conditions since 82% of the 4.2 million
hectares of Bt cotton cultivation is done in drought-prone areas,” he
said.
Vikhe-Patil blamed agricultural research institutes and
universities for the situation. “They did not do enough to alert the
government to the potential dangers of Bt cotton.”
He was
responding to a question on the state revoking the order of Director of
Inputs and Quality Control (DIQC), the licensing authority in
Maharashtra, banning Mahyco cotton seed under the provisions of the 2009
Maharashtra Cotton Act in August 2012. “The company was cheating
innocent cotton farmers by supplying substandard seeds and was involved
in black marketing by creating artificial shortage of supplies. So, we
had banned it,” he said.
He clarified: “This revocation is only
for this kharif season. Next season, they will have to come back to seek
renewal of the licence afresh.”
Citing Brazil’s example,
Vikhe-Patil said: “There the government is aggressively eradicating Bt
cotton and cotton farmers are happy. We want to do that here too.”
Spokesperson
for Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (MMB), Christopher Samuel, disagreed that
most farmers came from drought-hit regions. “Farmers in Maharashtra and
Vidarbha have a choice of more than 550 hybrid cotton seed brands,” he
said.
He added: “Brazil still has a large area for Bt cotton cultivation.”
Mahyco
officials did not respond to calls. Rajesh Krishnan, who heads the
sustainable agriculture campaign at Greenpeace, told dna: “Bt cotton has
been a total failure and the technology has been lining the company’s
pockets at the cost of farmers. If the government is so serious why
aren’t we seeing it translate into strict action like a permanent ban?”
The minister wasn’t forthcoming on why they cannot ask DIQC for such a ban.
“Bt
cotton is grown in states like Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat too. If we
want a complete ban, then we will have to take other states into
confidence. This cannot happen without the Centre’s intervention,”
Vikhe-Patil said.
Kishore Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan
Samiti smelt a conspiracy in the state’s U-turn. “We need a CBI inquiry
into the revocation of the ban on Mahyco cotton seeds,” he said.
Trouble crops
Many
agriculturists have blamed royalties for Genetically Modified Organism
seeds for the spurt in farmers’ suicides. In 2002, genetically modified
Bt cotton seeds arrived. These non-renewable terminator seeds must be
bought every year at costs dictated by agro-tech majors. In August 2012,
technical experts committee appointed by the Supreme Court recommended
the termination of all current trials of transgenic crops.
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