GMW: India's record GM hype

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GMW: India's record GM hype

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Fri, 12 Aug 2005 16:49:21 +0100

 

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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1.Comment from Devinder Sharma of the Forum for Biotechnology & Food

Security

2.Comment from PV Satheesh of the Deccan Devlopment Society

3.India seen heading for a record cotton crop - Reuters

 

COMMENT FROM GM WATCH

 

Nowhere is the gap between the hype and the reality of GM crops more

contrasting than in India.

 

Recently SciDev (the development website for the journals Science and

Nature) reported how a study by Indian government scientists had found

that " Indian varieties of cotton that have been genetically modified to

resist an important insect pest are 'inadequate'. "

 

The SciDev article also noted that, " The findings back farmers' claims

that the pest, known as the bollworm, is able to survive on Bt cotton

varieties, modified to resist it. " (Indian GM cotton is 'inadequate';

enquiry demanded)

http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=readnews & itemid=2275 & language=1

 

Compare and contrast that with this just published Reuters-India

article, " Cotton output in India, the world's third-largest producer, is

expected to reach a record 25 million bales this year, thanks to good

weather, higher land under the crop and more usuage of genetically

modified

seeds. " (item 3)

 

So how come a crop that Indian government research shows to be

" inadequate " and that has even triggered riots among farmers because

of its

poor performance is credited with giving India a bumper harvest?

 

I decided to send a copy of the Reuters piece to some of those who have

been following Bt cotton's performance since its introduction to India.

Below are their responses.

 

PV Satheesh (item 2) takes apart Reuters' figures. The Reuters' piece

claims:

 

" The share of transgenic cotton has been estimated at about 90 percent

of total plantings in Gujarat, India's largest cotton producer, nearly

75 percent in the neighbouring western state of Maharashtra and some 60

percent in northern India. "

 

But Satheesh shows that if those figures were true then that area of

planting would give a figure 3 times higher than the entire area given by

the Ministry of Agriculture in its official statistics for Bt cotton

cultivation in the whole of India!!!

 

Kavitha Kuruganti of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture in Andhra

Pradesh tells us that figures for GM cotton cultivation may be inflated

in any case. Some of the varieties being grown by farmers who say they

are cultivating Bt cotton are actually clandestine types sold as GM

cotton but which may not even contain the Bt gene! This kind of Bt cotton

is apparently greatly increasing, presumably i response to the impact

of the industry's hype.

 

Kavitha also points out that while Reuters claims Bt cotton growing has

doubled this year and constitutes nearly 75 percent of the cotton

cultivation in the state of Maharashtra, an article by Gargi Parsai in

The

Hindu (July 19th 2005) gives a very different picture.

 

From the figures given in that article it appears that the Maharashtra

cotton cultivation figures, far from doubling, are down this year from

last and the Bt component is just over 11% (as against 75%!!).

http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/19/stories/2005071906151200.htm

 

Jonathan Matthews

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1.From Devinder Sharma of the Forum for Biotechnology & Food Security

 

Dear Jonathan,

 

This is merely an industry hype. A quote from a vice president of an

export company, Gujarat Ambuja Exports (an outfit of Gujarat Ambuja, a

cement

producing company), is not a credible source.

 

Interestingly, only a few months back, the USDA had predicted that the

cotton plantings would fall in India because of the bumper crop

harvested in 2004 !!

 

Last year witnessed a bumper harvest because of an excellent weather

for cotton. Crop yields of non-Bt were also very high. But the industry

(as well

as the USDA) had ascribed the higher production to Bt cotton !!!

 

This year, it is just the beginning of the cotton season. Let us wait

and see what happens to the crop by the time the harvesting begins in

October.

 

Best wishes

Devinder Sharma

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2.From PV Satheesh of the Deccan Devlopment Society

http://www.ddsindia.org

 

Dear Jonathan

 

A quick response to your query.

 

One could smell a fraud in this even when you read the first few

sentences. But one had to wade through a whole range of statistics,

which is

not easily available in India. At least not for village based activists

like me.

 

However a tenacious four hours in front of my computer and visits to

various websites and bouncing the questions to a number of friends

finally gave me some clues. We will further investigate it but here

are the

first sets of information.

 

The website of the Directorate of Cotton Development, Ministry of

Agriculture, GOI, the authentic official website of the Government of

India,

[which incidentally is itself very gung ho about the " sustainability "

of Bt cotton cultivation in India] puts the total area under Bt cotton

cultivation in 2005 in the entire country at 1.3 million Ha (hectares).

 

Says the website:

 

" During 2002-03 Bt cotton was cultivated over an area of 72682 acres

which increased to 213098 acres during 2003-04 and 1,300,000 ha during

2004-05. "

http://dacnet.nic.in/cotton/NPT.asp?name=btCotton.htm

 

The Central Institute for Cotton Research [CICR], which is a NARS

centre for Cotton Research, the authentic GOI institution the total

cotton

acreage in 2005 in Gujarat is 1.95 million Ha while Maharashtra is

growing cotton in 3.4 million Ha.

http://www.cicrindia.org/

 

If we believe the Reuters report which says that Gujarat grows Bt in

90% of its cotton area, the Bt in Gujarat should account for a total of

1.75 million Ha and Maharashtra [at 75%] should make up another 2.5

million Ha. Between the two they should account for nearly 4.25

million Ha.

which would be nearly three times the total Bt cotton acreage in entire

India!

 

What can we say about these media stooges of the Industry! I think the

intention in hyping up the figures so abominably is to persuade

everyone to start believing in the juggernautism of the biotech

industry and

decide to " surrender " to it the way the industry has declared in its war

cry.

 

The biotech industry is employing two weapons currently. One weapon is

to genetically contaminate all agriculture so that non-GM crops will

have no future. On a parallel mode, they also would like to use their

embedded pink press to contaminate people's minds so that perception

builds up about the inevitability of GE.

 

My friend Devinder Sharma tells me that the source for this Reuters

report is the Vice President of a major Bt cotton exporting company in

Gujarat. This VP does need to hype up his figures. But why doesn't the

media check its figures? Is there a design in it? Curiously the reporter

who is credited with this story also had written another story in June

this year wherein he had repeated the same figures : 90% of all Gujarat

growing Bt cotton.

 

Suspicions rise, don't they?

 

satheesh

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3.India seen heading for a record cotton crop

By Atul Prakash

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews & storyID=2005\

-08-11T135735Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-212320-1.xml

 

BOMBAY (Reuters) - Cotton output in India, the world's third-largest

producer, is expected to reach a record 25 million bales this year,

thanks to good weather, higher land under the crop and more usuage of

genetically modified seeds.

 

India had produced about 23.5 million bales of 170 kg each in 2004, the

best ever.

 

" The crop condition is excellent, " said Ashok Kapur, a trader based in

the northern state of Punjab. " We are witnessing hot and dry weather

conditions, coupled with western winds. Such a situation is very good for

the crop which is flowering now. "

 

Traders said delayed rains at the time of sowing in June in certain

areas and recent floods in parts of western India damaged crops to some

extent, but overall condition was good.

 

Monsoon showers in early August after a dry spell improved crop

prospects. If more rains come at the end of this month, crop yields

would get

a further boost, traders said.

 

" Rains were well timed and just as required, " said R. K. Baldua, vice

president of Gujarat Ambuja Exports Ltd., a leading producer of cotton

in the western state of Gujarat.

 

India has the world's largest area under cotton and this has risen by 5

to 7 percent this year from about 9 million hectares last year, as many

farmers shifted from paddy and tobacco, anticipating higher returns,

traders said.

 

Yields were expected to be better this year with the growing popularity

of genetically modified cotton, which was introduced in the country in

2002.

 

The share of transgenic cotton has been estimated at about 90 percent

of total plantings in Gujarat, India's largest cotton producer, nearly

75 percent in the neighbouring western state of Maharashtra and some

60 percent in northern India.

 

Overall coverage under the genetically modified cotton has more than

doubled this year from the previous year following the launch of new

varieties and improved supply of hybrid seeds.

 

" The impact of GMO seeds is bound to come on cotton. Yields will

definitely rise, " said Baldua.

 

PRICES MAY DROP

 

Domestic cotton prices are expected to fall to near 10-year lows after

the start of cotton pluckings in October as a likely bumper crop will

dampen sentiment, traders said.

 

Prices of Shankar cotton have been little changed at about 16,500

rupees a candy of 356 kg in the past month, but could drop by 1,000

rupees

with the harvesting of the new crop, they said.

 

" But prices may not fall beyond that level as the government may start

buying cotton to lift prices and exports may rise, " said I.J. Dhuria, a

general manager with Punjab-based Vardhman Spinning and General Mills

Ltd.

 

Prices would also get support from a rise in cotton consumption by

mills as many companies have increased their production capacities,

traders

said.

 

Traders said India's cotton exports could rise to about 1.5 million

bales in the marketing year to September 2006 to countries such as China,

Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia from nearly 1 million this year.

 

 

 

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