Bt Cotton Promotion and Maharashtra Government

Warnings aside, more Bt cotton seeds arrive farm woes - DNA Reports
Experts warn of impending disaster if monsoons fail " We don't know yet if these varieties will suit the agro-cli- matic and soil condi- tions. Releasing the second generation Bt for commercial use is surely disastrous." - A scientist - Jaideep Hardikar, Nagpur

Beleaguered cotton farmers in Vidarbha are staring at another disaster in the ensuing sowing season. Almost the entire belt would be cultivating Bt cotton, which have not yielded encouraging results in the past in the rain-fed region.
While cotton prices are crashing every year, a total shift to genetic cotton will spiral production cost phenomenally, leading to heavy losses, farm activists say An . estimate suggests that over 30 lakh packets of Bt cottonseeds would be sold this season, enough to cover well over ten lakh hectare farms in the region.

That's a rise of more than double in the acreage over the last year. A disaster of unforeseen and unmanageable proportions is on the cards, if there is any fluctuation in the arrival of monsoon, fears Kishor Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti. "The government is selling a new disaster to the struggling farmers."
Interestingly, the Maharashtra Agri culture Minister, Balasaheb Thorat, recently admitted that Bt had failed in Vidarbha and cautioned farmers not to sow it.

Also, the state government has paid about Rs 400 crore to farmers in the last four years as compensation due to the failure of Bt cotton. Farm activists point out the government-run Mahabeej seeds corporation is marketing Bt cottonseeds to inputs dealers, while the minister advises caution.
Yet, what's concerning the activists is the permission granted to nearly 53 new genotypes of Bt cotton by the Genetic Engineer ing Approval Committee (GEAC). As many 35 of those varieties would be introduced in the central parts of India.
Over 60 Bt varieties are already in the market here and more will arrive soon. And there's hardly any study on the performance of new genotypes in Vidarbha.

"We don't know yet whether these varieties will suit the agro-climatic and soil conditions. Moreover, releasing the second generation Bt (Bollguard II) for a widespread commercial use is surely disastrous," admits a senior scientist.
He also warns that it is only a matter of time before the widespread emergence of resistance in bollworms will cause the Bt cotton technology to collapse.
Peasants' confusion would be compounded by the introduction of new varieties this season. As companies compete for a greater market share, their fierce and relentless promotional tactics will expose the farmers to far greater risks.

Farmers' leader Vijay Jawandhia argues, "Bt cotton has not brought about any increase in productivity. Also, it has not reduced the use of chemicals."
Various state government reports and statistics too suggest that Bt cotton has not brought about any rise in productivity or decline in the pesticide use.

Vijay Jawandhia Comments

Pradip Kumar Maitra, Hindustan Times - Email Author
Nagpur, May 19, 2007
First Published: 16:48 IST(19/5/2007)
Last Updated: 16:58 IST(19/5/2007)
3 more farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha in the last 24 hours :
Link - http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=22aabb3f-0ccf-42aa-9eab-ad6e927bf8ef

Despite the claim of Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh that farmers' suicide in Vidarbha have drastically come down this year, such deaths continue in the region. Three more farmers have ended their lives in the region in the last 24 hours.

In a letter, addressed to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week, Chief Minister Deshmukh had claimed that the number of farmers' suicide has reduced sharply in the wake of two relief packages of the government. However, the situation in the region is totally different.

According to reports reaching Nagpur on Saturday, one farmer each from Wardha, Bhandara and Akola had committed suicide in the last 24 hours. The victims were identified as Ravindra Gawande of Dhadi village in Wardha, Dulichand Turkar, and Sihora in Bhandara and Kisan Attarkar of Patur village in Akola district. Attarkar and Ravindra ended their lives by hanging themselves while Dulichand committed suicide by swallowing pesticide, reports said.

All of these farmers had borrowed loans from the banks and could not repay the loans in time. They feared being defaulters they would not get fresh loans in the coming kharif season and that might have led them to take the drastic step.

With the deaths of these three farmers, the toll has now touched 40 this month alone while the figure was 84 in the last month, 98 in March, 88 in February and 70 in January this year. As many as 856 farmers have killed themselves in the region since July last year.

Meanwhile, the Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti Chief Kishore Tiwari, who has been documenting the farmers' suicide since 2002, termed the ruling coalition in the state as anti-farmer that miserably failed to end the tragedy. They pointed out that in the past three years of Vilasrao Deshmukh rule, over 2000 farmers had committed suicide in Vidarbha alone. "What has the Vilasrao Deshmukh done to stem suicides? Poor farmers continue to suffer from skyrocketing inputs' costs and poor minimum support prices. What has the government done to improve their lot?" he asked and alleged that both the central and state relief packages have done little to address the crippling debt crisis among the farmers. Both the packages were unrealistic and far from the real problems, he further pointed out.

Vijay Jawandhia, the former state Shetkari Sanghatana president reiterated that there was a need for a total waiving of farmers loans. Besides, a concrete assurance to farmers that they would get fresh loans in the coming kharif whether he or she is a defaulter to repay the bank loans to prevent the tragedy. Moreover, there is a need for a food security of these distressed farmers, he added.

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