10 years of Bt Cotton in India / Tamilnadu

பி டி பருத்தி தமிழகத்திற்கு வந்து 10  ஆண்டுகள் ஆகிவிட்டன. இருந்தும் நாம் சரியான பாடம் கற்றுக்கொண்டோமா? நமது தவறுகளிலிருந்து புரிந்துக்கொள்வோமா?  ஓர் விவர ஆய்வறிக்கை : SFA- பாதுகாப்பான உணவிற்கான கூட்டமைப்பு இந்த 10 ஆண்டுகளில் பி.டி. பருதியின் பயணத்தை அரசாங்க தரவுகளிளிருந்தே தகவல் சேகரித்து வெளியிடுகிறது. தயவு செய்து இதனை பார்த்து இந்த தகவல் எல்லோருக்கும் சென்றடைய உதவுங்கள். (download report in Tamil)

Dear Friends!

It is 10 years since Bt Cotton was introduced in India / Tamil Nadu. That is the only Genetically Modified crop (though rated non food crop) allowed and it is time the Govt and policy makers think through it strongly and see the stark realities.


Safe Food Alliance has brought out a detailed report in Tamil on " A decade of Bt Cotton in Tamil Nadu". It is important that this analysis and data has to reach more people and especially farmers. Hope you all see this document and ensure good press mention.

Pl note that Bt cotton has failed in its single stated mission of reduction of pesticide and hence input costs. Scientific studies and data from Government and seed company's sites prove this, as detailed in the report. The target pest bollworm has developed tolerance to Bt , whereas secondary pests like mealy bugs and whiteflies which were hitherto unseen are causing major damage. At the farmer level, pesticide spraying increased heavily after the first three years of advent of Bt.

On the yield front too it is not all that hunky dory as they want us to believe. The 6 year average preceding the introduction of BT in 2002 is 290.17 kilos per hectare, where as the next 6 years after BT’s advent is 272.17 kilos. Infact there are fantastic yields like 316 and 324 kilos in years before Bt.
It is indeed a worrying factor that inspite of being pulled up by the Advertisement regulator for having made claims about benefits of genetically modified ( GM) cotton which was dismissed as baseless by the watch dog regulator.

Official information shows that Bt cotton requires more inputs in terms of fertilizers and irrigation and  it is estimated that Bt cotton farmers have lost Rs.10,000 crores due to crop failure. Even the government compensation of Rs.2000 crores is quite small considering the loss.

Talking of loss, what of  farmers' distress and suicides? In all, the situation out there is stark and it is sad that we are letting these companies get away with false promises, selling myths and hypes.

This is a wake-up call for the Government, Parliamentarians, policy-makers, farmer organizations and media to closely examine the crisis in the cotton belt and critically re-assess the 10 years of Bt cotton. The government should stop promoting Bt cotton and pro-actively advise farmers about its unsuitability and risks. We cant keep ignoring the fact that there are successful and productive eco friendly practices to control and combat pests.
It is shameful that while the Indian farmer is reeling under the crisis and Bt Cotton faced its worst failure, the recent State of Indian Agriculture report talks of Bt Cotton as an unqualified success and promotes GM technology as a magic bullet. GM technology has clearly demonstrated what it can do to a country like India.

What India needs is a an approach for food security that is rooted on protecting farmer livelihoods and income, farm and seed sovereignty, safe food for all, and democratic decision-making on agriculture science, research and technology. 


 (download report in Tamil) 

Feel free to contact us: Safe Food Alliance: Ananthoo, 9444166779 | Ram, 9444957781 | Selvam, 9443663562

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Feb 9th is National Safe Food Day !!

Coalition for a GM-Free India

Press Release

Feb 9^th is National Safe Food Day !!

Coalition for a GM-Free India celebrates Feb 9^th as National Safe Food Day

New Delhi: February 9, 2012: On the second anniversary of the decision taken by the then Minister for Environment & Forests to declare a moratorium on Bt brinjal, the Coalition for a GM-Free India has decided to mark and celebrate February 9^th as National Safe Food Day!

Two years back, tens of thousands of Indians had spoken loudly and clearly to say that we do not want GM food. More than 8000 people attended the public consultations and the Minister took the moratorium decision saying it was “responsible to science and responsive to society” and we agree!

Sridhar Radhakrishnan, Convener of the Coalition said, “On this day we request the Government of India to continue to keep India free of GM food and exhort all Indians to remember that our food safety, food security and food sovereignty are in our hands! We can’t allow our children’s food to be contaminated by GMOs or to be laced with poisonous pesticides or additives. We need to become vigilant stewards of our food and agriculture and every one of us should take ownership!”

The Coalition also considers the moratorium only as a pause, however; there are deeply disturbing developments on the GM crops front in India. GEAC has been regularly granting approvals for field trials and for the next two seasons, 38 GMOs across 13 crops in 16 states have been approved. Every field trial is an open-air release of an untested, new organism in Nature and consequently a threat to biodiversity, given the unproven, imprecise, unpredictable, uncontrollable and irreversible nature of the technology. The threat is compounded by numerous biosafety violations that are regularly taking place during various field trials with impunity and without any liability fixed for such violations by the regulators.¹

Further, the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority Bill (BRAI) which is slated to be tabled in Parliament to replace GEAC and the current imperfect regulatory mechanism has fundamental flaws in its design, including due to its inherent conflict of interest. As per the Bill the regulatory authority will be under the Ministry of Science & Technology which through its Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is mandated to promote GM crops. Therefore the promoter and regulator will be the same!²

GM technology in agriculture is being promoted in India, as a way to reduce pesticide use; already reports from the field indicate that within the first decade pesticide usage in Bt cotton fields has gone up and pest resistance build-up has been documented by the NARS scientists. Herbicide Tolerant (HT) crops which are under field trials are pesticide promoting crops as they encourage the blanket use of patented herbicides to control weeds.

More peer-reviewed scientific evidence has emerged in the meantime about more environmental, human health problems of GM crops while reports from the field about increased pest resistance, emergence of super weeds, contamination of water bodies are coming from all over. One of the latest studies has shown that Bt protein consumed through GM food can move from the intestine to the blood stream and from there to the foetus.

The United States which has the maximum area under GM crops is reeling under the “super-weeds” crisis; already 21 weed species have developed resistance to the glyphosate herbicide used along with the HT GM crop and the problem has spread to over 15 million acres of farm land. Pesticide usage (herbicides, weedicides, and insecticides) on GM crops has increased manifold in the decade and a half since the introduction of GM crops. Reports from Latin America detail health problems due to widespread use of glyphosate, the patented herbicide used along with HT crops.

“European countries have almost completely stopped GM crop cultivation within their borders. Transnational biotech companies are exiting from Europe citing that “it does not make business sense” to continue because of sustained opposition from farmers, consumers and policy makers. It is clear from the above statement that these corporations are not in the business of GM seeds to feed the hungry, but to fill their coffers”, said Pankaj Bhushan, Co-Convener of the Coalition. It is time that exited from India too, he said.

Events that have unfolded around the world since the moratorium clearly shows that GM crops are on the way out and India should in no way open the doors for this outdated, unpredictable and unsafe technology. On the other hand, clear evidence is emerging that safe and sufficient food for all can be ensured through sustainable agriculture adopting agro-ecological approaches; once again we exhort the government and people to ensure that all Indians have access to Safe Food, by asking the Prime Minister of India to scrap the faulty BRAI Bill and by urging the Minister for Environment and Forests to ensure that the bar on regulation is not lowered in any way but only improved !

For more details contact :

Sridhar Radhakrishnan : 09995358205

Pankaj Bhushan : 09472999999

Nishank - 0901586930

Also visit : www.indiagminfo.org

and Facebook - NATIONAL SAFE FOOD DAY - 2nd Anniversary of the Bt Brinjal Moratorium !

1 In the last one year, Mahyco planted illegal RR cotton as part of its field trial, Monsanto Gm maize field trial had unapproved GM maize planted, these are the ones which have come to light, the same trials have been repeated in various locations in the country.

2 On the BRAI Bill http://indiagminfo.org/?page_id=82