Sowing discord

The genetically modified (GM) crops in general and Bt cotton in particular have become a bugbear of sorts. For the last few years a heated debate has been raging about the rights and wrongs of the matter, but no one is wiser at the end of it all. Well-meaning experts are ranged on either side, and they have been arguing their case loudly if not always clearly and convincingly. Unfortunately, a partisan spirit has been the reigning factor. Now the battle has resumed again with regard to Bt cotton.

There are those who think that the GM crops are only a pretext for the big corporations in the business to enslave the poor and uninformed farmers, and that some canny politicians are supporting big business in the matter. The criticism is not completely off the mark, though it is possible that many of them have seen real value in these new technologies. But such fears cannot be used to discredit the very idea of GM crops, even if the evangelists do appear a bit too blinded by claims of the marvels of GM crops.

There are vested interests on both sides. We need then a clear view of the issue. The government should have played the role of a neutral umpire. But there are fears that the Indian government has leaned on the side of the pro-GM lobby, without adequate scientific research to back the liberal use of such seeds.

There does not seem to be an easy way out of the tangle. Take, for example, the latest round of claims and counter-claims about Bt cotton, the only GM crop in India, which has been sown in 6.3 million hectares out of a total acreage of 9.3 million hectares in India. There has been an increase in the production of cotton, and the Geneva-based non-profit International Service for the Acquisition of Agro-Biotech Applications Services (ISAAAS) has attributed this increase to the success of the GM crop. On the other hand, Krishan Bir Chaudhary, president, Bharat Krishak Samaj, counters it by saying that the increase in cotton production is more due to good rainfall in the last few years. A battle seems to be in the offing.

Farmers’ suicides in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, which are due to indebtedness caused by high cost Bt cotton have complicated matters in public perception. It has given rise to the fear that Bt cotton could be the culprit behind the suicides. This adds a serious dimension to the subject. It is time that the government steps in with a rigorous enquiry into the matter and clears the air once and for all, before we commit to the use of this technology in other crops.