India: Ruling Congress Party's farmers council wants permanent ban on GMOs/

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GMW: Ruling Congress Party's farmers council wants permanent

ban on GMOs/Sonia Gandhi defends farmers' rights on seeds

" GM WATCH " <info

 

 

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 18:40:26 +0100

 

 

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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This must be a huge embarrassment for India's ruling Congress Party,

while its Agricultural minister hypes GM to the skies, its own All India

Farmers' Council has called for a ban on GMOs " for all times to come. "

 

And their opposition to the impact of the Draft Seed Bill on the right

of farmers to save seeds has led Sonia Gandhi, to intervene in defence

of farmers' rights.

 

1.Ruling Congress Party's farmers council wants permanent ban on

GMOs/Sonia Gandhi denounces Draft Seed Bill

2.'Bollgard' Bt cotton disaster highlights need for stronger Indian

Biosafety legislation

3.'GMO-free' clothing campaign in India

 

EXCERPTS: " The Centre [federal government] should bar the access of

transgenic seeds and terminator technology in our agro-system for all

times to come. " - the 53rd All India Farmers' Council Meeting of the

farmers' outfit of the ruling Congress party, Bharat Krishak Samaj

(item 1)

 

" The bill is a clear trap to curb the traditional and indigenous rights

of our peasantry to grow, breed, multiply, preserve and exchange seeds.

The seed bill is wholly incongruous. Sinister as it is, it will

demolish the time tested agrarian culture and the socio-economic

fabric of the

rural India that has for centuries worked faultlessly and sustained our

small and marginal farmers, having even less than two acres of land.

83% farmers use their own farm-saved seeds. In one stroke, the National

Seed Bill on enactment will reduce 36 crore farming families into

pathetic non-entity and make them captive at the mercy of seed

multinationals, aided and abetted by the unabashed and insensitive

state machinery. "

- Dr Krishna Bir Chaudhary, leader of the BKS (item 1)

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1.Draft Seed Bill runs into rough weather, process may be delayed

ASHOK B SHARMA

Monday, April 11, 2005

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=87586

 

NEW DELHI, APRIL 10: The Union agriculture ministry's attempt to rush

the draft National Seed Bill may be delayed. Acting on a representation

made by an apex farmers' organisation, the chairperson of the National

Advisory Council, Sonia Gandhi, directed the ministry to reconsider

certain clauses in the proposed draft that are likely to hamper the

interests of farmers.

 

Incidentally, such an opposition comes from the farmers' outfit of the

ruling Congress party, Bharat Krishak Samaj (BKS). Though the BKS

executive chairman, Dr Krishna Bir Chaudhary had addressed the

representation to Ms Gandhi as chairperson of the UPA coalition and

president of the

Congress party, she chose to act on this issue as the chairperson of

the National Advisory Council to the government.

 

The BKS leader, in his letter to Ms Gandhi, had said: " The bill is a

clear trap to curb the traditional and indigenous rights of our peasantry

to grow, breed, multiply, preserve and exchange seeds. The seed bill is

wholly incongruous. Sinister as it is, it will demolish the time tested

agrarian culture and the socio-economic fabric of the rural India that

has for centuries worked faultlessly and sustained our small and

marginal farmers, having even less than two acres of land. 83% farmers

use

their own farm-saved seeds. In one stroke, the National Seed Bill on

enactment will reduce 36 crore farming families into pathetic non-entity

and make them captive at the mercy of seed multinationals, aided and

abetted by the unabashed and insensitive state machinery. "

 

The draft bill makes registration of seeds mandatory and in this

context, Dr Chaudhary in his letter said: " The National Seed Bill treats

farmers as traders. They will be hounded to run about for registration if

they grow and exchange seeds. "

 

The previous week's the 53rd All India Farmers' Council Meeting of BKS

held in Hubli in Karnataka had authorised Dr Chaudhary to take up the

issue with the Centre. The Hubli meeting, not only opposed the draft

bill but also the introduction of transgenic seeds.

 

The resolution said : " Seed is the most vital factor in enhancing

agricultural production. The National Seed Bill should not put any

infringement on the indigenous and traditional rights of the farmers

to grow,

breed, multiply, exchange and store seeds and be prevented to carry on

the age old and time-tested barter system for mutual benefits of the

fellow farmers. Farmers should not be treated as traders in the proposed

bill. The Centre should bar the access of transgenic seeds and terminator

technology in our agro-system for all times to come. "

 

The resolution also called for remunerative minimum support prices for

crops and cautioned the Centre not to dismantle the state-sponsored

procurement of grains, encouragement of organic farming and post-harvest

management.

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2.PRESS RELEASE

 

'Bollgard' Bt cotton disaster highlights need for Indian Biosafety to

look to European Union example for strong legislation

 

Navdanya Trust, Saturday 2nd April 2005

 

Indian and European Biosafety experts agree that urgent action is

needed to improve India's Biosafety laws in order to protect farmers,

consumers and the environment from the risks of GMOs. Following a

two-day

Dialogue hosted by Navdanya Trust and funded by the EU-India Small

Projects Facility, Biosafety experts identified several areas where

Indian

legislation was clearly failing farmers, and could be improved by looking

at laws established in Europe.

 

" The regulatory system failed to protect farmers from the widespread

disaster of Monsanto's Bt cotton in Andhra Pradesh, " says Dr G.V.

Ramanjanevulu of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture in Andhra

Pradesh.

" The systems are not transparent and data is not shared with the public.

Reports from independent surveys show failure and that the government

accepted this in two of the three years. Cases of tampering of data

have also been observed. There is no accountability on the company for

the failure. During approval the GEAC is not giving an ear to farmer

and public concerns. "

 

Two Bt cotton farmers from AP and MP told of the extent of the Bt

cotton disaster, where seeds sold as " Mahyco Bollgard " , cost twice as

much

as conventional seeds, produced half the yields and required more

pesticides and irrigation. This in spite of being grown on the best

land and

without intercropped plants.

 

Dr Vandana Shiva of the Navdanya Trust says " Instead of fleshing out

the rules on Biosafety, what is being done by the government and Monsanto

is the undermining of the regulations. We urgently need to look at

ways to improve our regulatory system, and we have much to learn from the

EU example. "

 

Geert Ritsema of Friends of the Earth Europe, says " Under European law

GM foods, GM animal feed and GM seeds have to be labelled as

" genetically modified " whenever they are commercialised. In India, a good

Biosafety regime could include similar labelling provisions so that

consumers

and farmers can avoid GM products. On top of that, a liability regime

is urgently needed, in order to ensure that the biotech companies pay

compensation to farmers who have suffered financial losses as a result

of the cultivation of genetically modified crops. Such liability regime

could also apply whenever there is damage to the environment as a

result of the release of GM crops. "

 

Eric Gall of Greenpeace European Unit says " Indian farmers should also

be aware that there is widespread rejection of GM foods amongst

consumers and food companies in Europe, and that because foods must be

labelled as GM, they will find no market in Europe. Our new

Greenpeace report

" No market for GM labelled food in Europe " shows clearly that growing

GM foods is a very risky strategy for Indian farmers. "

 

Contacts: Navdanya Trust (011-2656-2489); Greenpeace India

(098-454-37-337), Friends of the Earth: (+31-6-290 05 908), Centre for

Sustainable

Agriculture (040-2701-4302)

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3.Greens seek 'GMO-free' clothing

TIMES OF INDIA, 11 April 2005

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1074011.cms

 

NEW DELHI: If green activists are to be believed, the next few months

could see the start of a " GMO-free clothing " campaign, roping in not

just Indian designers but also international names such as Nike and

Esprit.

 

GMO stands for genetically-modified organism. The aim is to hit

supporters of transgenic cotton, more usually termed Bt cotton, where

it hurts

most - their pockets. The only genetically-modified (GM) crop which can

legally be grown in India is Bt cotton, infused with a bacterial gene

which is supposed to make it resistant to the dreaded pest bollworm.

Activists opposed to it saying they want to " build a big Bt cotton

boycott

campaign which includes designers " .

 

Vandana Shiva of the NGO Navdanya, backed by environment organisations

Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, says she has sent " feelers " to

some big firms, including fashion houses in England and those working on

khadi in India, to see if they might be willing to reject transgenic

cotton.

 

Many seem " ready to go on board " and the campaign, she hopes, would be

ready for take-off on August 9, the day they first launched a campaign

asking Monsanto to quit India.

 

Monsanto's Bt technology is now being used in India. Activists like

Shiva say it has proved disastrous for the farmer, halving his yield

while

doubling or trebling his costs. Monsanto says this is bunkum, the

yields are good and farmers have made profits. Shiva and civil society

groups from the EU met recently and agreed on the need to exchange

experiences and work on improving India's biosafety laws to protect

farmers,

consumers and the environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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