Face of Nation : Farmers in Maharashtra have launched a civil disobedience’ movement by sowing unapproved Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and herbicide tolerant (HT) cotton to protest the central government’s ban on uncertified GM crops. What was confined to a village, Akoli Jahangir, and a 1,000 defiant farmers in the Akola district of Vidarbha, went state-wide on June 10 after farmers’ organisation Shetkari Sanghatana rallied farmers to defy the ban to cultivate GM cotton and Bt brinjal.
Storing, selling or sowing of banned GM crops invites a Rs 1 lakh fine and five years in jail now. But the farmers don’t care, they are adamant about defying the ban. For years, farmers were sowing HT cotton secretively. Now we will do it openly. The ban on GM crops is atrocious when farmers are reeling under poverty, says Sanghatana president Anil Ghanwat, hinting that “vested interests” were behind the opposition to Bt cotton and Bt brinjal.
The government has so far turned a blind eye to the defiant farmers, but it’s well-known in the farming community that some of them have shifted quietly to GM seeds to ensure a good harvest in rain-fed lands, if not to enhance productivity. Not many approve. This is blatant violation. There is a scientific procedure to be followed for releasing new seeds for cultivation, says Suman Sahai, activist and founder of Gene Campaign, an organisation that has strong views on transgenic crops. These campaigners point out that farmers have not only broken the law but also made the country breach international bio-safety conventions such as the Cartagena Protocol.
Others like biotechnologist and ex-Delhi University vice-chancellor Deepak Pental, while admitting that breaking the law cannot be condoned, argues that so far no transgenic crop has been found to be harmful to the environment. The central government, though, has avoided a decision on GM varieties of brinjal, mustard and HT Bt cotton. For farmers, it’s a case of Hobson’s choice– they have no option as little is being done to save their crops from pests and pathogens.
Despite the ban, unapproved HT Bt cotton is cultivated widely in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. A department of biotechnology committee investigating the production of Bt cotton seeds discovered that the Bt seeds were grown, on average, on 15 per cent of the cotton cultivable areas in the four states and five per cent in Punjab during the 2017 18 season. Similarly, though the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) cleared Bt brinjal in October 2009, then minister for environment and forests (MoEF) Jairam Ramesh put it on hold soon after. Today, Bt brinjal is being illegally cultivated in Haryana and supplies from Bangladesh also find its way into the Indian market.
Agriculture authorities in the states are unable to take stringent measures to curb the spread. Farmers are using the Bt seeds because an unobtrusive seed mafia ensures its availability. Now, with the growing movement against the ban on GM crops, more farmers will use these seeds rendering the restrictions a farce. While the area under Bt cotton seeds is rising, official data for the 2018 – 19 kharif season reveals that 88.27 per cent of the 122.38 lakh hectares cultivation is under Bt cotton of all varieties.
Productivity for cotton has gone up from 191 kg per hectare in 2002-03 to 477 kg per hectare in 2017-18 and the production of cotton in the country increased from 8.62 million bales in 2002-03 to 34.89 million bales in 2017-18 due to the adoption of Bt cotton, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Moreover, during the past 16 years, the Bt cotton technology has retained its ability to control all bollworm diseases except the pink bollworm.
All this has emboldened the protesters. On the other side, the pro- environment lobby has raised the alarm on GM crops and issues about bio-safety. Issues like conserving traditional seed varieties as well as monitoring carcinogenic effects and other health concerns also have to be addressed. It is also evident that while some Bt cotton strains have multiplied yields, the benefits have tapered with pests staging a comeback.
But the farmers don’t care. India ranks fifth in global cultivation of GM crops right now. Bt cotton is the only GM crop approved for commercial cultivation, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, 2018. Farmers of all hues, knowledgeable and those unaware, are enthusiastic about adopting other Bt crops too. When we are open to imported or technologically enhanced pharmaceutical drugs and other products, why are we fighting shy of GM crops? asks the Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations (CIFA) advisor P. Chengal Reddy, before answering the question himself. There is no forceful lobby for farming. We have to understand that farming is no longer about traditional culture but modern enterprise.
Farmers’ leaders are, however, increasingly vocal now and posing several questions. What action has the government taken against the anti-GMO activists who vandalised the legally conducted field trials of GMOs? Why has the government swept under the covers the GEAC observations that Bt Brinjal and GM Mustard are safe to consume and also recommended the release of the GM crops? Why had Jairam Ramesh ignored the clearance of Bt Brinjal and GM Mustard by various scientific bodies of repute and GEAC and chosen to go to the public for consultation on matters related to science? Why are a few powerful lobbyists allowed to interfere in the decision-making process of the government? Why do we have to import GM Soya and GM Canola products–helping the farmers of rich nations prosper– while vetoing the science benefitting our Indian farmers?
It’s worrisome that our rulers never have their heads and hearts in the right place. Why not take a decision on GMOs on its scientific merits? Let the GMOs be subjected to strict and thorough regulatory tests. But once these GMOs clear the regulatory tests, there shouldn’t be any delay in making it available to the farmers. The Modi 2.0 government has to back science rather than rely on anti-development lobbyists, says V.K.V. Ravichandran, a third-generation farmer from Poongulam in the Tiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu. He’s been growing paddy, cotton, pulses, sugarcane and coconut on 50 acres since 1986, including 40 acres taken on lease.
The CIFA favours a cautious approach. It is willing to welcome GMOs, but only after a strong independent monitoring body is established which can safeguard the biodiversity of India as well as balance the interests of Indian farmers. We are concerned about the reduced availability of choice to both the Indian farmer and Indian consumer. The introduction of GM Cotton has resulted in the concentration of cotton seed production to a small number of companies. This increased concentration has led to reduced biodiversity of the crop,” says CIFA secretary-general Bojja Dasaratha Rami Reddy. They want increased investment in agricultural universities to ensure the development of high yielding varieties suitable for mechanised harvesting. This would reduce nearly 30 per cent of the cost of cultivation and help the farmer.
Another demand is that the government ensure that the GM crop introduced (eventually after all approvals) is made available in all varieties and not just the hybrids. Farmers would then have the right to save seeds and replant it, unlike GM hybrid seeds which have to be bought every year from the seed companies. This is not an unreasonable demand as the GM trait has been introduced into distinct varieties in China and many other countries, argues Rami Reddy.
