When cotton farming was introduced as a lucrative alternative to food crops in the 1980s, farmers invested in expensive varieties of seeds and pesticides. This put small farmers in conditions of severe indebtedness, often driving them to suicide. The spate of suicides that began from Andhra Pradesh, first in 1987 and then again in 1998-99, have so far taken a heavy toll, spreading to Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. This desperate situation was caused basically by the resistance the American bollworm insect developed, to all kinds of pesticides and pesticide cocktails. Farmers found themselves on a “pesticide treadmill' where higher pesticide use led to greater resistance which in turn led to even higher pesticide use, an so on.

Bt cotton in India

Why was it introduced?

The Government of India allowed the production of three genetically modified Bt cotton hybrids for three years from April 2002 to March 2005. This followed the controversial unauthorized release and cultivation of Bt cotton in some areas in the previous yearThe authorized cotton varieties are Bt MECH 162, Bt MECH 184, and Bt MECH 12. By 2002/03,officially Bt cotton has been grown in about 1 lakh hectares in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Unofficial use, especially in Gujarat is said to be quite large.Even though the performance of Bt cotton has been projected to be satisfactory in some circles, there is great discontent in different quarters with the variety. Some indicate that the variety is susceptible to the bollworm and the yield is below par The study indicated that Bt Cotton has failed on many counts and the claims made by the company were wrong. It neither improved yield through better plant protection nor reduced the pesticide usage and the returns were less since the pods were small, seeds were more, lint and the staple length were less

The price of Bt cotton was reported to be 10 percent less in the local market (Business Line, 2002). In some cases, the new pests and diseases emerged, and Bt cotton failed to prevent even the boll worm attack. Some reports indicated that initially Bt Cotton showed resistance to boll worms but as soon as the formation of bolls started, the worms started attacking them (RFSTE, 2002).

Despite these concerns, Bt cotton cultivation is spreading steadily and farmers in developing countries are also willing to adopt this technology to reduce the pest damage and the cost of production with due consideration for the environment (Iyengar and Lalitha, 2002).According to official estimates, the area under Bt cotton in India is about 1 million hectare, or about 11 percent of the total area under cotton in the country. As of 2005,the share of area under Bt cotton to total area under cotton was over 27 percent in Madhya Pradesh, and about 18 percent in MaharashtraIndia now grows more Bt cotton than any other country in the world. Pakistan, one of the five largest producers of cotton in the world, has developed several indigenous Bt cotton varieties and wide-scale testing is on-going.

How Bt works ?

1. Ingestion2. Solublization & proteolytic

activation3. Binding to target site4. Formation of toxic lesions

Bt Cotton Controversy

Strongest opposition to GM in India came from farmers’ organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations

One farmers’ organization – Karnataka Rajya Ryotha Sangha (KRRS) - based in Karnataka has been especially active in criticizing GM

Vandana Shiva also been a vocal critic.

Shiva and KRRS: ‘Cremate Monsanto 1998: Anti-GM protest KRRS and Shiva linked the farmers’ suicides to what they called the ‘Terminator technology’ being developed by Monsanto

Said that Monsanto were trialling terminator technology in India so that farmers could no longer use farmer-saved seed 5

1998: Anti-GM campaign II BUT: Monsanto quickly denied that it would develop and market

terminator technology Monsanto never trialed let alone marketed terminator technology in India Karnataka farmers who committed suicide were not using terminator

seeds, they weren’t even using GM crops. Karnataka farmers were actually using conventional crops which failed as

a result of pest attack EVEN SO, KRRS/Shiva managed to convince many people that Monsanto

was the aggressor in case of farmer suicides The implications of KRRS and Shiva’s stand against Monsanto and

GM Brought KRRS and Shiva into conflict with other farmers’ movements, e.g.

Shetkari Sanghatana, led by Sharad Joshi in Maharasthra Joshi argued that GM would provide possibilities for peasant farmers to

earn large incomes independently of state interference (links to New Right ideas)

GM perceived to embody the freedoms associated with the rational application of science to agriculture

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Recommended Bt cotton hybrids for commercial cultivation in

India 2005North Zone Central Zone South Zone (6) (12) (10)MRC-6301 MECH-12 MECH-12MRC-6304 MECH-162 MECH-162RCH-134 MECH-184 MECH-184RCH-317 MRC-6301 RCH-2(2004)Ankur-651 RCH-2 (2004) RCH-20Ankur-2534 RCH-118 RCH-368

RCH-138 MRC-6322RCH-144 MRC-

6918(HB)Ankur-651 BunnyAnkur-09 MallikaBunnyMallika

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State MECH-12 MECH-162 MECH-184 Total

Maharashtra 112 9,300 5,334 14,746

Madhya Pradesh 60 404 1,756 2,220

Karnataka — 3,828 80 3,908

Andhra Pradesh 44 5,564 — 5,608

Gujarat 76 4,136 4,642 8,854

Tamil Nadu — 2,042 660 2,702

Total 292 25,274 12,472 38,038

Commercial cultivation of Bt cotton hybrids in India, 2002 (hectares

Benefit of Bt cotton cultivation is the reduction in the use of pesticides, which thereby, reduces the cost of

cultivation. Since it reduces the use of pesticides thereby minimising the chemical pollution

of soil and atmosphere, it is recognised as environment friendly or Eco-friendly. In the non-Bt cotton cultivation, generally, 15 rounds of spray of chemicals are

required in a season to control the pest especially the bollworm. But in case of Bt cotton crop only 3 rounds of spray of chemicals are considered enough.

The cost of chemicals for a single round of spray is around Rs 300 per hectare. It means that more than Rs 3,500 could be saved per hectare if Bt cotton is cultivated.

In India, cotton cultivation area is only 5 per cent of the total agricultural area but it consumes around 50 per cent of the total pesticides used for all the crops. In value terms the cost of pesticides used for non-Bt cotton cultivation is around Rs 2,000 crores.

Besides this, the yield increases by 30 per cent by better protection from the pests. The increase in productivity consequently increases the income of cotton farmers significantly. In addition to the above, the studies indicate that a considerable extent of manpower is saved through reduced spray of pesticides in Bt cotton cultivation as compared to other varieties. Bt cotton technology also reduces the amount of exposure and risk involved in purchasing, transporting, mixing and spraying the insecticide (for caterpillar control) to the workers or cultivators of cotton.

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Problems of Bt cotton cultivation The first problem is that the seeds produced after cultivation of Bt cotton are

not reusable. For each time, the farmer has to buy seeds from Monsanto-Mahyco. Since Monsanto is in a monopolistic position so they are free to charge any price. This means benefits of Bt cotton to cultivators will largely depend on the price of seeds at which they procure and availability of seeds at the time of season. In the long term, safeguarding the interest of farmers can be made against such a situation by developing indigenous technology.

. The second problem is that if Bt cotton is cultivated without the recommended method then bollworm pest might develop the resistance against Bt gene and that would lead to loss of effectiveness of natural eco-friendly pesticides forever.

. The third problem is the chance of availability of fake seeds of Bt cotton in the market. And it would be difficult for a farmer to differentiate between Bt and non-Bt cotton seeds. As a result the failure of crops and uncertainty of yield could be higher.

. There is also a big threat of gene contamination. It might be carried by insect or even wind that transfer pollen grains from Bt cotton to non-Bt cotton plants cultivated nearby.

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Safeguard measures In order to minimise the negative aspects of Bt cotton cultivation following

safeguard measures may be adopted: There is an urgent need to create awareness among the farmers about the entire Bt-

technology and its functioning, because farmers are under the impression that Bt cotton is the panacea for all the woes (pest problem). They seem to understand that usage of Bt cotton seeds will eliminate the complete use of pesticides and production will increase considerably.

There is also great need for training to the cotton farmers about the recommended methods of Bt cotton cultivation i.e. 80 per cent of Bt cotton and 20 per cent of non-Bt cotton farming and 3 to 3.5 metre border plantation of non-Bt cotton in Bt cotton field. This minimises the chance of development of resistance in bollworm pests against the Bt gene and also reduces the chances of genetic contamination.

For the welfare of Bt cotton cultivators, the government should establish an institution or organisation which will prevent the selling of fake Bt cotton seeds and also meet the requirement of Bt cotton cultivator regarding the type of training or help they need. This organisation should also be empowered to interfere in the pricing policy of Bt cotton seeds so that Bt cotton seed distribution companies do not charge extraordinary price to the cotton farmers. In order to check the fake Bt cotton seeds being supplied to the farmers, some private companies as well as CICR have already developed certain tools, but these are to be made available in the market at nominal prices.

For the welfare of Bt cotton cultivators, the government should enact some law so that Bt cotton seeds distributor companies pay compensation to the Bt cotton cultivators in case of seeds failure under ideal conditions. A special crop insurance scheme may be developed.

There is also a need for the development of indigenous Bt cotton seeds in India so that our farmers need not depend solely on Monsanto Bt cotton seeds.

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