GM cotton belt is suicide belt, The Telegraph, India.

[Guest guest]

To

The Editor,

The Telegraph,

India.

 

Dear Sir,

 

The report " GM cotton belt is suicide belt " , May 10, does not reflect the

entire picture. Rather than the expensive seeds, the Bharat Krishak Samaj, an

organisation of 5 million farmers, has voiced apprehension over the ecological

and health hazards of inadequately tested GMOs and LMOs that will deluge India

if the lax laws are not immediately rectified.

 

Biosafety norms have been violated in India and GM produce intended for

research has been consumed and even sold in the market. Only GM cotton has been

given import clearance, but other GM seeds and foods too have been

clandestinely imported and cultivated. We are today, in all probability, eating

various forms of GM corn, soyabeen, rapeseed etc, either indigenous, or as

ingredients of soft drinks and various processed foods imported from the US.

 

American laws do not require any labelling distinguishing GM food from the

rest. Thus these products, available in all supermarkets and malls, becomes

legal in India, despite mandatory labelling laws, as a clause in the Foreign

Trade Act says foods considered to be safe in the country of origin may be

deemed safe for import without testing.

 

Considering that the safety of GM food is yet to be established and there have

been numerous instances of reactions in humans and deaths in animals, other than

negative test results under laboratory conditions, the import of GM food should

be immediately banned. There should be no two opinions in this regard.

 

A PIL has also been filed in the Supreme Court by Ms Aruna Rodrigues of Sunray

Harvestors and others, seeking a moratorium on GMOs and LMOs. We hope the Court

will immediately issue a stay on imports and local cultivation till a final

decision on the matter is taken. The issue should also cover the testing of GE

drugs, which is a distinct possibility considering that our Govt has granted the

permission to MNC drug majors to conduct drug trials in India.

 

And what about GM viruses already being used in vaccines, and GE drugs being

used to treat cancer and AIDS? Have any tests ever been conducted regarding

their safety?

 

Yours faithfully,

Jagannath Chatterjee

--\

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The original article which forms the basis of the letter is here;

GM cotton belt is suicide belt

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Killer crop? New Delhi, May 9: A

large number of suicides by farmers in India are “intimately connected” to the

high cost of production of genetically modified (GM) cotton and other

capital-intensive crops, a non-government organisation has claimed.

 

The New Delhi-based Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology

which will hold a “bija (seeds) yatra”, said the high costs of cultivating

capital-intensive crops, including GM cotton, have contributed to the suicides.

“We find a strong correlation. The suicide belt is the GM cotton belt,” said

Vandana Shiva, director of the foundation. “The cost of cultivating GM cotton is

high and, over the years, cotton prices have fallen.”

 

The foundation released a report documenting farmers’ suicides in Andhra

Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Punjab since the mid-1990s. In Maharashtra’s

Vidharbha alone, more than 400 farmers have killed themselves since June 2005,

it said.

 

“A farmer told upfront (that) all the costs associated with cultivating GM

cotton would probably not have gone in for the seeds,” Shiva said. “We’re also

seeing suicides among farmers who’ve planted other crops that involve high

cultivation costs.”

 

The foundation’s report cited an independent study in Punjab that has recorded

1,360 suicides in 91 villages in two blocks of the state’s Sangrur district.

 

Seed companies argue that the steady rise in the area in India under GM cotton

cultivation is evidence of its good performance. They have said GM cotton can

increase yields by killing the bollworm pest.

In the proposed bija yatra, the foundation will join farmers’ organisations in

several states to encourage farmers to boycott GM cotton, avoid other seeds that

involve capital-intensive cultivation, and promote organic cultivation.

 

Farmers along the route of the yatra in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and

Karnataka will be provided training on low-cost ecological organic farming and

get seeds that do not need expensive cultivation processes, Shiva said.

 

The foundation has called for a moratorium on GM cotton and an independent

assessment of the social and economic impact of the introduction of GM cotton in

the country five years ago.

 

 

 

 

" Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest

of life by the power of the spirit. " - Aurobindo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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