The 28th of May, marked as “World Hunger Day,” has come and gone but for Pannu Bai Bhil, every day is hunger day. How does someone dealing with chronic hunger view a day marking her plight? Let those of us who overeat at least take stock of a hungry India pitted against bumper crops, number crunching, technologies for profit, markets, and growth rates. The solution for hunger lies in proper distribution of grain, and not in bringing technology as the Prime Minster avers when talking of GM crops. If this government cannot prevent the huge stocks from rotting by distributing food grain adequately and equitably, other questions remain mere rhetoric.

Blessed with one of the world’s most diverse seed gene banks, India’s premier state-run agriculture research institute is seeking to collaborate with multinational seed corporations to develop high-yielding, durable seeds -- both for profit and to improve the nation’s poor crop yields, a senior official at the institute said. The Indian Council of Agriculture Research would offer its partners its massive seed gene bank in exchange for expertise and a share of the profits, ICAR deputy director general Swapan K. Datta said. ICAR has already sought the government’s approval for such tie-ups, which would enable it to tap into an international seed market worth $200 billion annually, Mr. Datta said late Thursday.

The controversy surrounding Bt brinjal, the first genetically modified food crop developed in India, has turned murkier with the National Biodiversity Authority planning to launch prosecution against a seed company for alleged bio-piracy. The National Bio-diversity Authority, which regulates matters pertaining to biodiversity protection, conservation and use in India, will lodge a complaint against the alleged violators of the Biological Diversity Act for “bio-piracy in promoting Bt brinjal”.

National convener of Southern Action on Genetic Engineering P V Satheesh said that mayor Rajeshwari has assured to take necessary steps to make Mysore a GE free city. At a press conference here on Wednesday, he disclosed the concepts discussed in a meeting held with mayor and other leaders of Mysore City Corporation. He said that there was an intense opposition against the genetically modified food entering into city. Various organisations who participated in the meeting upheld the demerits of GE.

The Indians claim they were promised certain yields. However, no yield can truly be promised by any company regardless of whether the seed is genetically modified or not. Growing conditions and management have a direct effect on yield, yet the Indian farmers seem to have forgotten that. In an example of how misguided their views are about growing GM cotton, the head of the Central Institute for Cotton Research, Keshav Raj Kranthi claims GM cotton is more susceptible to bacteria. He claims GM varieties consume more water and nutrients, leading to soil depletion, which means more fertilizer is needed. Kranthi has it all backwards.

Three and a half years ago, at a time when the controversy over the use of genetically modified seeds was raging across India, a newspaper [The Times of India] story painted a heartening picture of the technology’s success. “There are no suicides here and people are prospering on agriculture. The switchover from the conventional cotton to Bollgard or Bt Cotton here has led to a social and economic transformation in the villages [of Bhambraja and Antargaon] in the past three-four years.” So heartening was this account that nine months ago, the same story was run again in the same newspaper, word for word. Never mind that the villagers themselves had a different story to tell. “There have been 14 suicides in our village,” a crowd of agitated farmers in Bhambraja told shocked members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture in March this year. “Most of them after Bt came here.” The Hindu was able to verify nine that had occurred between 2003 and 2009.

Advocating the use of more genetically modified crops, the Association of Biotech Led Enterprises-Agriculture Group has said biotech crops would help in enhancing yield substantially. ABLE-AG is an association of biotech companies in India which aims to accelerate the pace of biotechnology in India. ABLE-AG executive director N Seetarama, pointing at the global hunger index, which ranks India 67 among a list of 81 countries and also fact with introduction of Food Security Bill, said biotech crops was the answer to the burgeoning demand of foodgrains in the coming years.

The Supreme Court on Thursday sought form an expert committee a report on desirability of the field trials for genetically modified crops within three months. A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia asked the committee to submit the report on whether field trials for GMO can be completely banned and if they are to be allowed what should be the protocol. The bench directed the committee to submit an interim report on the issue within three months if the final one is not possible. The court passed the orders on a PIL filed in 2004 by NGO, Gene Campaign and anti-GMO activist Aruna Rodrigues, who had sought a complete moratorium on field trial for GMO.

Tension prevailed at some places in Haveri district on Tuesday, due to protests and stampede during distribution of Bt cotton seeds. The increase in demand for the ‘Kanaka’ variety of seeds and shortage of supply led to the rush. In Haveri city, police resorted to mild lathicharge as around 12,000 farmers fell over each other to collect the seeds. [...] Nearly 28,000 packets of ‘kanaka seeds are required in the district, while only 18,051 were supplied, leading to the rush.

In a scenario dominated by Bt cotton, only those farmers in Adilabad seem to be safe and happy who have practically given up cotton cultivation. Many farmers, especially those with smaller holdings, are finding the economics of Bt cotton to be really deadly. Some 23 suicides by cotton farmers have been reported in the district since November last year. In a majority of these instances, the farmers were caught in debt traps. [...] “In order to clear the bank crop loan of Rs. 70,000, my father had recently taken a private loan for the same amount at 10 per cent per month rate of interest. Though there is still some time to go before the banks start issuing crop loans, the pressure of debts was unbearable for him,” said elder son Devendra as he provided an insight into the economics fostered by Bt cotton.