FAMISHED ROAD PAVED WITH MONSANTO'S HYPE (excerpts only)... the journey begins...
*Monsanto to launch new cottonseed in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra
*Bollywood star Monsanto's ambassador in Vidarbha
*Death Along the Famished Road - cataclysmic tales of deprivation and despair wreaked by Bt cotton
*Most farmers who commit suicide grew Bt cotton
*Murdered by Monsanto
*Destitute and dying on India's farms
*68% LOWER INCOMES FOR BT COTTON FARMERS IN MAHARASHTRA
*BOLLYWOOD STAR BACKS AWAY FROM MONSANTO
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Monsanto to launch new cottonseed in the Vidarbha region of India
May 16, 2005
Source: The Hindu Businessline via Checkbiotech http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2005/may/12283.htm
Monsanto, the multinational seed company, has launched a new variety of genetically modified (GM) cottonseed - Bollgard - in the Vidarbha region. It claims to be resistant to bollworms, a known crop pest. The product also promises to increase yield dramatically.
Monsanto has appointed Bollywood actor Nana Patekar as its brand ambassador for promoting Bollgard. He has held farmers rallies for promoting Bollgard in the region.
Patekar said, "From the product literature, I am convinced that Monsanto seeds will give a higher yield to farmers. There are many misconceptions about the seeds. But if the benefits are more, then we should use these seeds."
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Nana Patekar to launch 'Bollgard Kisan Vigyan Jyoti'
MONSANTO: Press Release
Mumbai, April 28, 2005
http://www.monsantoindia.com/monsanto/layout/pressreleases/nanaapr2805.asp
Well-known film star, Nana Patekar will launch the 'Bollgard Kisan Vigyan Jyoti' programme in Aurangabad on Friday, April 29, 2005. Planned to celebrate the revolution that Bollgard has brought to cotton farming and the benefits that it brings to Indian farmers, this promotion is sponsored by Mahyco Monsanto Biotech. (MMB)
In addition to addressing farmer meetings in Aurangabad and Jalgaon, Mr.Patekar will tour the Maharashtra countryside, spreading his message among rural audiences.
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Death Along the Famished Road
Sonia Faleiro
Tehelka, December 17, 2005
http://soniafaleiro.blogspot.com/2005/12/death-along-famished-road.html
Sonia Faleiro ventures into the hinterland to discover cataclysmic tales of deprivation and despair wreaked by Bt Cotton cultivation.
...This year has been the worst for Vidarbha's farmers since the first farmer's suicide seven years ago. In 2004, up to 80 percent of cotton growers harvested BT, genetically modified seeds produced by a company called Monsanto. Recalls Hardikar, 'When actor Nana Patekar, the brand ambassador of Monsanto, toured this region last year to promote BT, his public meetings had a huge impact. Farmers went for BT in a big way. But it boomeranged badly.'
The seeds, with a starting price of Rs 1,600 (the hybrid variety cost Rs 450 a packet), have demonstrated no sustainability in the parched environment of Vidarbha. This year, the fungal infection Lal Rog struck the fields. Stretches of land in Yavatmal appear a hazy crimson in the distance. From close quarters, the withered cotton, branches red in colour, make for an eerie sight. In the shadow of each failed harvest, stands an entire family, emaciated and hungry.
'Monsanto's claim that a test application would involve minimum pesticides and maximum yield has proved fatal,' says Kishore Tiwari, president, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti.
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Most farmers who committed suicide were Bt cotton growers: VJAS Yavatmal Maharashtra
Webindia123, India, January 02, 2006 http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=207428&n_date=20060102&cat=India
The Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) has alleged that 170 cotton growers from Western Vidarbha, who had opted to sow Bt cotton of a US-based seeds company, had committed suicide during the period from June to December last year.
As many as 212 farmers in Vidarbha had committed suicide during the period of whom 182 were from Western Vidarbha, VJAS president Kishore Tiwari said in a statement here today. Among the 182 suicides in Western Vidarbha, 170 were by Bt cotton growers, the statement alleged.
Over six lakh farmers from Vidarbha had sown Bt cotton on the assurance that the minimum yield would be 20 quintals per acre, the statement said. However, the average yield per acre was only two to three quintals per acre, the statement alleged.
The VJAS proposes to initiate legal action against the US-based seeds company demanding compensation for farmers who had been ''misled by false assurances'', the statement said.
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Good Friday - Murdered by Monsanto? (14/4/2006)
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6455
Last night 5 more cotton farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra's cotton growing region of Vidarbha, taking the total to 443 farmers in the growing season since June 2005.
The majority grew Bt cotton which was promoted to poor farmers in India using false and misleading claims as well as unethical practices. (see EVERY TRICK IN THE BOOK - THE MARKETING OF BT COTTON IN INDIA)
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5741
Just how disastrous Bt cotton proved for Vidarbha's desperate farmers was revealed by a recent study in Maharashtra which showed the incomes of Bt cotton farmers were 68% lower than the incomes of non-Bt cotton growers.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6444
Meanwhile, a statutory body investigating charges of monopoly practices filed against Mahyco-Monsanto has found the company guilty of illegal practices and found that the monopolistic and exorbitant rates charged by the company for their Bt cotton varieties was a significant factor in farmer distress.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6435
Here are the names of the more than 200 farmers in Vidharba who have taken their lives since the beginning of January 2006. As many again suffered a similar fate in the period from June 2005. As already noted, the vast majority of the victims cultivated Bt cotton.
List at: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6455
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Destitute and dying on India's farms
By Amelia Gentleman
International Herald Tribune, APRIL 18, 2006 http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/18/news/farmers.php
Two years ago a new genetically modified seed, Bt, was introduced into India, and enthusiastically endorsed by the local government. Its manufacturer, Monsanto, said it was resistant to boll weevil - the main cotton pest - and required just two sprays of insecticide for every crop, instead of the usual eight.
The modified seed sold for about four and a half times the cost of normal seed, but many farmers opted to buy it because they believed it was indestructible and would give a higher yield.
They were devastated when many of the Bt cotton plants were afflicted in November with a reddening that destroyed much of the crop...
Sanjay Mahadeorao Todase, senior medical officer in the small hospital in the nearby town of Pandnarkawada, said that treating farmers who have poisoned themselves with insecticides had become so routine that he barely had the emotion left to feel shocked by it.
"They are brought in by bullock cart, on the back of bicycles or on three-wheeler trucks," he said.
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Bt Cotton in Maharashtra: MEC report
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6446
Marketing of Bt Cotton:Majority of the farmers had opted for Bt Cotton based on media advertisements. In Maharashtra, Nana Patekar, the marathi film actor was used by the Bollgard companies to boost their sales. He appeared in TV advertisements in addition to addressing farmers' meetings in person. It is interesting and important to note that by the end of the season, Nana Patekar had been reported to have apologized for promoting 'Bollgard', given the large scale losses reported from across the state. Many farmers in our study have been influenced by several different channels the media, the dealers and distributors, fellow farmers etc.
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68% LOWER INCOMES FOR BT COTTON FARMERS IN MAHARASHTRA: MEC REPORT
The report of the Monitoring & Evaluation Committee [MEC] which established that Bt cotton farmers had 68% lower incomes than non-Bt cotton farmers, has been published on the GM WATCH website in three parts, at:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6444
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6445
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6446
EXCERPT from the report's conclusion:
The study clearly points out that the cultivation of Bt cotton has not benefited the farmers in terms of the economics. It has not brought down the use of pesticides as promised, nor has it yielded the promised results. Further, new diseases like lalya were found to be higher on Bt cotton. Farmers also consistently reported the stress intolerance of Bt cotton.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6446
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BOLLYWOOD STAR BACKS AWAY FROM MONSANTOGiven that Bt cotton has become responsible for farmers' suicides, Nana Patekar announced that he will not support Monsanto anymore and that he will not promote their product, Bollgard Bt cotton, anymore.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6449