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PROJECTS
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Published in THE PIONEER
Embittered by Bt cotton
Dr.Ashish Sarkar
Earlier this month, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC)
approved new varieties of Mahyco-Monsanto cotton for Punjab, Haryana and
Rajasthan. Last year, task force under the leadership of MS Swaminathan had
submitted a report on the "Applications of Biotechnology in the farm
sector". In the absence of any clear-cut policy to guide the farm sector,
Indian agriculture is at the mercy of misinformation and tall claims made by
multinational biotech product companies.
The first step in the world of transgenic biotech farming is not too
encouraging. The 55,000 farmers who sowed Bt cotton on over 42,000 hectares
across the country last year are so disenchanted that they will not dare to
have further experimented on it. Different studies conducted by governments
of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, as also by many
impendent agencies indicate that the path of transgenic seeds is not smooth.
According to these studies, performance of non-Bt plants is much better.
In the national round table on `Farmers Issue and Agriculture Policies'
organised by the Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) held in
New Delhi last June experts categorically said that there was no difference
in the performance of the Bt cotton and not-Bt cotton in the light of 2003
season production. Even from the Government's side, Tourism Minister Renuka
Chaudhary hit out hard at the unnecessary hype generated about the
performance of Bt cotton. In Ms Chaudhary's words, "In Andhra Pradesh both
Bt cotton and non-Bt cotton have performed equally in 2003 season. There is
unnecessary confusion all round. Both non-Bt and Bt seeds have given similar
yields in plots at my native place. At times it is difficult to
differentiate between the two."
On the other hand, Karnataka scientists have shown that in the long run Bt
cotton will fail to resist the pest bollworm unless careful management
measures are taken. Because of genetic manipulation, Bt cotton produces its
own pesticide - a chemical known as Bt toxin inside the plant - thereby
helping farmers save on chemical sprays. However, farmers are advised to
take resistance-control measures, as it is feared that without such measures
the pest will be resistant to Bt toxin and ultimately give rise to a Bt
toxin-resistant super-pest.
The fear seems alarming. According to the scientists of University of
Agriculture Sciences in Dharwad and Raichur, who found that many Bt cotton
plants in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have become resistant
to Bt toxin. In a report published in `Current Science' the resistance is
maximum in Nagpur and Nanded in Maharashtra; Guntur, Nalgonda and Madhira in
Andhra Pradesh and Raichur in Karnataka. Development of resistance implies
that transgenic Bt plants will be ineffective to control bollworm, which
apart from cotton also affects tomato, maize, sunflower and various
vegetables, amounting to huge losses.
Last April Gene Campaign, a NGO presented shocking data on India's very
first GM crop, Bt cotton, which had received conditional approval for
commercial cultivation in March 2002. The data, collected from 100 farmers
from 16 selected villages in Warangal in Andhra Pradesh and Yavatmal in
Maharashtra, clearly show that Bt cotton had totally failed. Quality wise,
the field data show that the Bt cotton plant is weak and that its ball size
is small. The length of the cotton fiber is shorter than that in non-Bt
cotton, so the yield is less and the quality poor.
It is surprising that GM crop cultivation has been approved and allowed to
continue in some selected states even though the mandated regulatory
authorities have not been set up on state and district level. Under the
Environmental Protection Act, 1989 this act is a cognisable offence, but who
cares? Many non-governmental organisations want that the government must
ensure that Monsanto is made to pay compensation to those farmers who have
suffered losses because of Bt cotton. Section 39 (2) of the Protection of
Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act, 2001, requires breeder to pay
compensation if variety fail to perform as claimed.
No one is able to understand the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee's
decision to grant approval to Mahyco-Monsanto's Bt 162 and Bt 184 when these
are well known as poor to modest performing varieties, and other better
cotton varieties are in the pipeline. Crops, which have been Genetically
Modified to resist insects, kill not just the "target insect" but also the
beneficial insects like butterflies. There are probabilities that GM plants
may crossbreed with wild species to produce "super-weeds", which cannot be
eliminated using standard herbicides. There remain many questions still have
to find its proper answers before GM seeds go to farmers' hand.
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