VJAS Demands BT Cotton Sowing Intervention Vidarbha

VJAS DEMANDS BAN ON Bt. COTTON BOLLGARD - II IN VIDARBHA :

After the landmark mass sowing permission, by GEAC in June 2005, for Bt Cotton in Vidarbha, more than 2230 cotton farmers suicides have been reported and govt. of maharashtra has compensated cotton growers Rs. 219 core and Rs. 210 crore in the year 2005-2006 and year 2006-2007 for the failure of Bt.cotton in rain fed area of Vidarbha.
Maharashtra govt. has on record admitted that Bt. Cotton has failed in rain fed areas of Vidarbha, whereas 95% area of vidarbha is rain fed.
Now Bt.cotton seeds manufacturing, American company, has introduced Bollgard - II.
For promoting the Bt cotton seeds in Vidarbha, the company, with an elaborate network of Indian seed distributors and dealers, has started its high profile advertising campaign, backed by credit incentives - that it is highly profitable and gives minimum 11 quintal productive yield, where as according to govt. of maharashtra official report the cotton average yield has been dropped down from 120 kg per acre to hardly 50 kg per acre after introduction of Bt.cotton in vidarbha.
The advertising slogan catch line is "your farming, your profits"....
The claims made by the Monsanto company were patently fraudulent, as cotton growers pesticide uses was not dropped down where cotton output was drastically effected resulting mass suicides of cotton farmers in Vidarbha, Kishor tiwari added.
The Indian government is more busy at this time setting its cricket team into good shape for the next World Cup rather than rectifying the wrong decisions of GEAC regarding poor judgement in cropping and sowing patterns in Indian agriculture as a whole.
What a mockery of an Agriculture Ministry.

Total Failure of Rural health care support system, employment and social cum civil administration are the main reasons of farmer's suicides in west vidarbha.
Dr. Sudhir Goyal, IAS, who is Relief Commissionor, and implementing prime minister package himself has asked Indian govt. that low cost sustainable farming is only solution of stop these suicides.
The officials are more busy trying to show that there is no agrarian distress on Indian farms.
Ban on Bt. Cotton and chemical farming is need of hour, and cotton farmers should cultivate there than cotton should the programme of the state the official further demands. Restoration secondary systems like rural employment, health is also needed to stop these on going suicides but nobody is acting in this direction more over misleading press releases are adding fuel to extremely critical situation in vidarbha, as per Kishor Tiwari of VJAS.

21/03/2007

Western Vidarbha :
1. DEVIDAS RATHODE, PIMPARI(PANDHURNA), YAVATMAL
2. SADASHIV SHRIRAME, KAMATHWADA, YAVATMAL
3. ASHOK ONKAR, KURAHAD, YAVATMAL
4. JANRAO WANKHEDE, RAMTEK, WASHIM
5. SAWARAM RATHODE, SHIGANAPUR, WASHIM

05/03/2007

Western Vidarbha :
1. Devidas Rathode, village Bhuli, Washim distt
2. Janrao Pachare, Dongargoan, Akola distt
3. Savitri Dhavane, village Khatkheda, Wardha
4. Damkrishanna Turankar, Naigaon(khz), Yavatmal
5. Dadarao Rathode, vilage Chirodi, Amaravati
6. Mahendra Kompalwar, village Hatgoan, Yavatmal
7. Yogesh Mirage, village Bhastan, Shegaon

As per Congress NCP, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh's, political wisdom :
1. Real blame for "wrongful media attention" by " Vested Interests " for raising issue of farmer suicides and distracting attention, from the glorious success of Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh's Vidarbha Relief package for debt ridden cotton farmers, announced during Indian Prime Minister's visit to Vidarbha GM cotton belt, in 2006.
2. That all rural suicides, are being credited to the account of agrarian suicides, whereas according to him, these suicides are not agrarian suicides. So now, the CM has jumped into the fray of issuing post mortem certificates after Shri Sudhir Kumar Goyal, IAS, Relief Commissioner, and other bureaucrats.
According to him, the Congress Party / NCP, should be the arbiter of the reasons for suicides, and people should refuse to be misled by "vested interests".
3. TV channels are wrongfully showing strips of Vidarbha suicides.
4. Has claimed that suicides are generalized social problems and have nothing at all to do with rural and agrarian distress, or any Farm Exit Policy of Indian Congress government.
5. Has asked the media and publicity mongers, to wait for 3-4 more years, before the start of Second Green Revolution, as announced by the Delhi and Mumbai based Congress politicians, and massive state investments in irrigation projects in Vidarbha, begins to show results on the faces of Vidarbha farmers and suicide figures begin to show a declining trend.