GMW: Devinder Sharma exposes USDA hype

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GMW: Devinder Sharma exposes USDA hype

" GM WATCH " <info

Fri, 22 Apr 2005 14:27:42 +0100

 

 

 

 

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http://www.gmwatch.org

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The Indian trade policy analyst, Devinder Sharma, exposes below the

nonsense perpetuated in a recent USDA Foreign Agricultural Service report

which has attracted a flurry of excited headlines:

 

India may pass US with BT cotton

Truth about Trade, USA - Apr 20, 2005

 

India set to overtake US in cotton farming

siliconindia.com, CA - Apr 20, 2005

 

Biotech cotton production may beat US

BharatTextile.com, India - Apr 20, 2005

 

Cotton farm: India set to overtake US

Economic Times, India - Apr 19, 2005

 

Biotech Cotton May Drive India Ahead Of US - USDA

just-style.com, UK - Apr 19, 2005

 

The USDA report claims cotton crop yields have steadily increased in

India since 2002 due largely to the adoption of Bt cotton.

 

But this, as Devinder points out, just doesn't make sense: " Bt cotton

occupies only 1.3 million acres in India in 2004. This is only a

fraction of the over 22.5 million acres being planted with cotton. "

 

In other words, for Bt cotton to be the key factor lifting Indian

cotton production, the yield increases with Bt cotton would have to be

absolutely astronomical - many times greater than anything even

Monsanto has

claimed. Instead of which, of course, there have been a deluge of

complaints over the last 3 years about the performance of Bt cotton!

 

As P V Satheesh, Director of the Deccan Development Society, recently

commented in a compelling presentation on the history of Bt Cotton in

Andhra Pradesh:

 

" what is the story that the farmers in AP are telling us with regard to

Mahyco-Monsanto Bt hybrids? It is a story of terrible loss, deep pain,

and cold anger, leading to explosive violence and even death...

Hundreds of farmers, who have testified in the study as well as in the

film,

have repeatedly told us how [Monsanto's Bt cotton] cultivation had

ruined them totally. "

 

1.Devinder Sharma on USDA hype and Bt cotton

2.India may pass US with BT cotton

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1.Devinder Sharma on USDA hype and Bt cotton

 

The interesting part is (which USDA also acknolwedges): " In 2005

cotton plantings are 'likely to decline' in India. " Earlier, a Bloomberg

report (Mar 8, 2005) had said: " Cotton farmers in China, the world's

largest consumer of the fibre, may plant as much as 17 per cent less

because

lower prices have cut profits from growing the crop. " It quoted a US

government agricultural attache.

 

Isn't it interesting. If the cotton production goes up, the USDA does

not see beyond Bt cotton to be the reason. But if the farmers plant less

cotton, USDA will give us all kinds of explanations!

 

In India and China, 2004 was an exceptionally good year for cotton. The

weather remained perfect during the growing season. As a result of

which attacks by pests were very low. The increase in production,

however,

brought misery to cotton growers. They couldn't realise the optimum

price.

 

In India, cotton farmers demonstrated at a number of places against

distress sale. They got about 20 per cent less for their produce. In

China, as the Bloomberg report indicated, farmers got low prices

despite bumper production.

 

The cotton area in China and India is therefore likely to fall this

year.

 

Bt cotton occupies only 1.3 million acres in India in 2004. This is

only a fraction of the over 22.5 million acres being planted with cotton.

In China, Bt cotton now occupies some 1.25 million acres, which again

is a fraction of the total acreage. Incidentally, Bt cotton does not

increase the crop yield. All it does is to reduce the dependence on

pesticides in some areas. Both pesticides and Bt only reduce crop

losses.

 

If Bt cotton increased yield, as the USDA suggests, than how come the

use of pesticides on the remaining acreage under cotton is not

considered as also responsible for increasing crop yields? After all,

roughly

55 per cent of the total pesticides used in India are applied on cotton

alone. Why don't scientists say that pesticides also increases

yields?

 

Interestingly, Bt cotton had failed misterably in large parts of India.

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, which cultivated nearly 70 per cent of

the crop in the first three years of commercialisation have already

informed the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) of its

failure.

In China too, Bt cotton sowing had initially saved farmers some 28 kg of

pesticides per hectare. Within two years, pesticides use had increased

to 14 kg. This was the figure available till 2002. In the next two

years -- 2003 and 2004 -- going by the same yardstick (since no official

studies are available), pesticides use is almost back to the earlier

figure of 28 kg per hectare.

 

Why are the farmers then buying Bt cotton?

 

Well, why did the farmers earlier buy all kinds of chemical pesticides?

Isn't it surprising that even though farmers knew that pesticides were

harmful, they went on purchasing and applying still more potent

chemicals. They even used them in all kinds of combinations and cocktails.

 

Why blame the farmers? Didn't the educated and the elite continued to

smoke cigarettes even though they knew that smoking was harmful. Wasn't

it prescribed in bold letters on the cigarette packs that smoking is

harmful for health? And yet, cigarette smoking was on an upswing. If it

were not for the state intervention in clamping bans on smoking in

public places, cigarette sales would have still multiplied.

 

Bt cotton sales are picking up the same way. It is the market, stupid.

This is how the markets can lure you to sure death. Millions have been

attracted to the propaganda of the markets in the past and millions

will be driven by it in future. What is not being realised is that the

same pesticides that were promoted by the USDA and the agricultural

scientists during the past three decades, has taken a human toll of at

least

600,000 people from pesticides poisoning. How? Well, the WHO tells us

that some 20,000 people die every year from pesticide poisoning.

Multiply that figure with 30 years (this is on a conservative scale,

green

revolution began around 1966-67), and you get the

staggering death toll. Isn't that mass murder?

 

How could the USDA promote a technology all these years that killed

600,000 people worldwide?

 

Much of these pesticides were applied on cotton. Bt technology too is

primarily commercialised for cotton. But by the time the world realises

the grave mistake in promoting Bt cotton (for the sake of commercial

profits of a handful of private companies), the farmers would have paid a

price, as they did earlier with chemicals.

 

What is the way out?

 

Ask the farmers. The USDA needs to look closely at a remarkable

turnaround brought about by a tiny village in the heart of the killing

fields

of Andhra Pradesh in India. This village has stopped using chemical

pesticides and has therefore no need for Bt cotton, and therefore is not

worried about pests. Isn't that the way forward?

 

To learn more about that village, click on

http://indiatogether.org/2005/mar/dsh-punukula.htm

 

May wiser sense prevail.

 

Devinder Sharma

dsharma

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2.India may pass US with BT cotton

20 April 2005

http://www.truthabouttrade.org/article.asp?id=3739

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - India is poised to overtake the United States in

annual cotton production if India's cotton yield improvements remain on

an upward track, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Monday.

 

China is the world's largest cotton producer, now followed by the

United States and India.

 

In a special report on India's cotton production, the USDA's Foreign

Agricultural Service examined how cotton crop yields have steadily

increased in India since 2002 due largely to the adoption of genetically

modified cotton.

 

Both the United States and India are forecast to produce record cotton

crops in the 2004/05 marketing year with 23.1 million and 18 million

bales respectively, the USDA said.

 

India's forecast production of 18 million bales will surpass the United

States' 10-year average production of 17.9 million bales, it said.

 

" If India yields continue to improve at the same rate as it has in the

last two years, using average area, India cotton production could

surpass the United States as the second-largest cotton producer in the

world

behind China, " the USDA said.

 

Cotton crop yield in India jumped 26 percent in 2003/04 from the

previous year. " Likewise, forecast yields in 2004/05 continued an upward

trend increasing 13 percent over the previous year's record and 39

percent

above the 10-year average, " the USDA said.

 

Better yields have been driven by Indian farmers' growing use of Bt

cotton, which reduces losses to bollworm infestations. In the United

States, about three-fourths of all cotton planted is with gene-altered

varieties.

 

In 2005, cotton plantings are " likely to decline " in India because of

crop-switching to more profitable crops such as oilseeds, the USDA said.

It did not elaborate. The USDA will not issue projections for world

cotton production in marketing year 2005/06 for several more weeks.

 

The USDA published its report on the Internet at

http://www.fas.usda.gov/pecad/highlights/2005/04/india_web_update.pdf.

 

 

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