India bans Monsanto GM cotton seeds/Comments from Satheesh

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GMW: India bans Monsanto GM cotton seeds/Comments from Satheesh

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Wed, 4 May 2005 08:49:59 +0100

 

 

 

 

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1.India bans Monsanto GM cotton seeds

2.Comments from Satheesh

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1.India bans Monsanto GM cotton seeds

Tuesday 03 May 2005

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4DE63A66-0461-48F4-A7E0-B6C2213BF0F3.htm

 

India has barred Monsanto Company and its Indian

partners from selling three varieties of genetically modified cotton in

a southern Indian state.

 

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, a federal regulator,

refused to renew licences for the sale of three Monsanto BT cotton

varieties

in Andhra Pradesh state, because these had been found

ineffective in controlling pests there, said Suresh Chandra, the

committee chairman.

 

However, the seeds can be sold in other Indian states, Chandra said.

 

Years of discussion

 

" It took us six-and-a-half hours of discussion, but at the end, we

decided not to renew those licenses for Andhra Pradesh, " he said.

 

The Andhra Pradesh state government also asked Monsanto to compensate

farmers who it said lost money by sowing its transgenic cotton. Monsanto

disputed the claim.

 

Monsanto's spokeswoman in India, Ranjana Smetacek, said the company had

yet to receive the federal regulator's order and would not comment.

 

The licences granted in March 2002 expired last month, and Monsanto

applied for their renewal in six southern and central Indian states,

including Andhra Pradesh.

 

Verdict on cotton

 

In April, the federal regulator asked various state governments to give

their comments on the performance of BT cotton over the past three

years.

 

The report (from Andhra Pradesh state) was not satisfactory, and hence

we had to disallow the licences, " Chandra said.

 

India has also been hesitant to use GM technology in foods

 

St Louis-based Monsanto's BT cotton is the only genetically modified

crop allowed in India. BT stands for bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium

whose gene is injected into cotton seeds to give them resistance

against boll worms, which are common in India.

 

Monsanto sold 1.3 million packets of BT cotton in 2004, but critics say

the seeds are environmentally hazardous and could contaminate the genes

of native varieties through cross pollination.

 

However, advocates of genetic modification say it helps fight plant

diseases, increases yields, and makes food crops more nutritive.

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2.Comments from PV Satheesh

 

Dear friends

 

This morning when I woke up, I was greeted by the following news:

 

All the THREE varieties - Mech-12 Bt, Mech-162 Bt &

Mech-184 Bt have been disallowed for commercial cultivation in Andhra

Pradesh.

 

Nothing could have made my day better. The news was about the decision

taken by the GEAC, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee of the

Government of India, the apex regulatory body of the Indian Government.

Incidentally all the three varieties are products of Monsanto.

 

The news is specially significant for us because the Deccan Development

Society and the Andhra Pradesh Coalition in Defence of Diversity have

fought a relentless and focused battle against these Bt hybrids for the

last three years. In fact on our latest demands the prominent one read

as below:

 

WE STRONGLY DEMAND FROM THE GENETIC ENGINEERING

APPROVAL COMMITTEE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA THAT THEY WITHHOLD THE

LICENSE FOR NEXT THREE YEARS TO THE BOLLGARD BT HYBRIDS OF MAHYCO

MONSANTO.

 

The battle included campaign in hundreds of villages involving posters,

film shows, discussions with farmers and a path breaking independent

scientific study that tracked farmers experience with the Bt cotton from

the day they planted the

cotton till the day they harvested.

 

The study produced regular annual reports in

 

2003 : Did Bt Cotton Save Farmers in Warangal?

2004: Bt Cotton Disillusions AP Again

2005: Bt Cotton in Andhra Pradesh: A three year assessment

 

Another powerful tool used in the struggle were two films made by a

group of women farmer-filmmakers from the DDS Community Media Trust. They

used their cameras and microphones as instruments of farmer to farmer

research by extensively filming in Warangal District touring over 30

villlages every year and recording the impression of hundreds of farmers.

They relentlessly returned Warangal month after month in cold winter

and searing summer, sought out their focus farmers, patiently spoke to

them to get their information and opinion and came up with two stunning

films:

 

Why are Warangal Farmers Angry with Bt Cotton? and

Bt Cotton in Andhra Pradesh: A Three Year Fraud

 

The films in Telugu have not only been seen by several thousand farmers

in over 200 villages in Warangal, Adilabad and Nalgonda districts but

also have been translated into French, Spanish, Thai and English and

used in as varied parts of the world such as the Francophone West Africa,

Meso America, South East Asia and many parts of Europe.

 

I must make a very special mention of the Warangal Against Genetic

Engineering, WAGE, a district coalition of about ten NGOs in Warangal who

led the campaign and research from 2002 to 2005. Their spiritied

campaign and lead taken by them in the research was the backbone of

the entire

three year struggle. They have demonstrated that a determined fight

from a small band of committed groups can take on the Goliaths of the

Life[destroying] Industry and defeat them even if it is in a battle if

not

a war.

 

This small victory has buoyed the spirits of the civil society groups

particularly in Andhra Pradesh and given them the confidence that by

pursuing their larger goal with renewed determination, sharper focus and

collective effort, they can attempt to win the war.

 

There was a tremendous solidarity in this fight from civil society

groups, environmenatal action groups and funding partners. We gratefully

acknowledge all this support and urge their continued collaboration in

the future struggle to see that some parts of AP can be GM-free zones.

 

with warm regards

 

satheesh

 

 

 

 

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