GMW: Massive GM cotton hype exposed

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GMW: Massive GM cotton hype exposed

" GM WATCH " <info

Wed, 31 Aug 2005 13:43:48 +0100

 

 

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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Here's yet more evidence of the astounding level of GM industry hype

being pushed out through the media in India.

 

A recent Reuters article claimed that cotton output in India was

reaching record levels thanks to genetically modified seeds, increased

cotton

cultivation and good weather. In support of its claim about the

contribution of GM cotton, it reported:

 

" 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. "

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5605

 

But newly released figures on Bt cotton sowing in India show that Bt

cotton is being cultivated not on between 60-90% percent of the land

under cotton-cultivation but on just 8.7%!!!

 

Meanwhile the poor quality of GM cotton continies to get attention.

This article is from the US farm press:

 

Transgenics have ways to go in quality

Delta Farm Press, USA

http://deltafarmpress.com/news/050822-transgenic-quality/

 

The following report is from Kavitha Kuruganti in Andhra Pradesh.

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The first figures of Bt Cotton sowing this kharif across the country

are out - Business Standard's Markets and Investing page has a story

today saying that the extent of Bt Cotton is 7.21 lakh hectares in the

country this season. This works out to 17.81 lakh acres or 1.78 million

acres.

 

Last year, Bt Cotton was sown on 13 lakh acres out of 225 lakh acres of

cotton in all. If the Business Standard figures are right, the increase

is therefore about 37% in terms of absolute increase in area of Bt

Cotton. [ which is hardly surprising as it has approval in northern India

for the first time this season]

 

This year's cotton area is 205 lakh acres [8.3 mn ha, as per the same

story]. This means that Bt Cotton is still a minuscule 8.7% of the total

cotton land, despite the hype that the media and the industry have

created.

 

If we calculate the seed cost of this and the earnings of the Bt Cotton

companies (four of them in the market) in Kharif 2004, at an average of

Rs. 1650/packet (though some varieties are sold at Rs. 1818/packet) it

works out to 2.9 billion rupees or nearly 294 crores of rupees.

 

As per reports available on royalty charges being collected by

Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech Ltd, a large chunk of this - upto Rs. 1250/-

per packet

- goes to MMB.

 

Companies like Nuziveedu Seeds have also paid more than 1.5 crores

rupees for seed replacement/damages, after germination failure in various

districts of Andhra Pradesh in the month of July/August. On the one hand

is MMB collecting its royalties and on the other hand is a technology

that has failed at the germination stage itself. For many Indian

companies which have made a beeline for the Bt gene in their own

cotton lines,

this spells doom.

 

FYI.

 

kavitha

 

 

 

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