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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Jairam Ramesh, farm lobby in war of words over Bt cotton-Jacob P Koshy

Jairam Ramesh, farm lobby in war of words over Bt cotton-Jacob P Koshy

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published Published on Jun 20, 2012   modified Modified on Jun 20, 2012
-Live Mint

Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has rebuked an industry lobby for selectively using his recent comments on genetically modified cotton “to its advantage.”

Ramesh said in a seminar on 12 June that there was a structural shift in India’s cotton economy and a comprehensive study was necessary to understand the relative roles of better irrigation, weather and the availability of different cotton varieties to understand how India had gone on to become the second largest cotton exporter in the world.

It was remarkable that in spite of activists arguing that Bt cotton was a failure, a large number of farmers were cultivating the genetically modified variety, the minister said.

Within hours of Ramesh’s remarks, the agriculture group of Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE) issued a statement saying it welcomes the minister’s “candid assertion” that Bt cotton has played an important role in bringing about a decisive structural transformation in the cotton economy of India.

“Your press note is sensationalist and quotes selectively,” Ramesh wrote in a letter to ABLE executive director Nadoor Seetharaman on 13 June. “But I am not surprised since I don’t expect anything better from an industry association.”

The incident underlines the uneasy relationship between the government and the genetically modified seeds industry.

Several states in India are hostile to the prospect of introducing genetically modified food crops, but farmers in several other cotton-growing states, such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana are big buyers of Bt cotton seed.

No state has yet evaluated or endorsed the role of Bt cotton to its productivity, given the divisiveness that genetically modified seed evokes even among farmer groups and consumers.

Ramesh’s point is valid and ABLE will look into it, Seetharaman said. He, however, added: “He did say that Bt cotton may have played a constructive role, and that’s a key point. But we will look into this more closely.”

Ramesh in a text message said that a “full reading” of the letter was necessary to emphasize his concerns on the growth of Bt cotton in India.

Nearly 90% of India’s cotton acreage is under Bt cotton and yields between 2002 and 2011 increased from around 300 kg per hectare to 500 kg per hectare, government data show.

“What is unambiguous is that farmers are using less pesticide and the damage from the bollworm (the most formidable cotton pest) is better contained,” said Keshav Kranthi, director, Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur. “What is unclear (is) that most of the yield gain was during those years when Bt cotton acreage was between 5% and 30%. How do you explain that?”

Live Mint, 20 June, 2012, http://www.livemint.com/2012/06/19220056/Jairam-Ramesh-farm-lobby-in-w.html?atype=tp


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