The renowned Indian activist Vandana Shiva and the European NGO-platform ”No Patents on Seeds” joined forces today to file an opposition against European Patent EP1962578. This patent claims melons with a natural resistance to certain plant viruses originating in India. The patent was granted in May 2011 as an invention to the US company Monsanto by the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich, Germany. Critics point out that the patent was granted even though European Patent Law does not allow patents on conventional breeding. Furthermore, the reasons for the opposition also include the issue of biopiracy, which is why Vandana Shiva and her organisation Navdanya from India are engaged in this opposition.

“Something went terribly wrong during multiplication of seeds but it is difficult to say when and how. I admit to the presence of Monsanto gene in our material. This is probably a contamination caused by cross-pollination during trials. When we got complaints from farmers for poor results in the crop we informed the DDG crop science (Gautam) but he asked us to continue the programme. I am a breeder and do not understand molecular biology,” he said. [CICR director] Khadi also seems to have manipulated things in his favour by being a member of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee which cleared the products for genetically modified products during 2008. But now he admits that his presence in regulatory body was wrong as someone who’s product is under examination cannot be a member of the regulatory committee.

Biotech major Monsanto has suffered yet another setback with the advertising regulator finding claims made by it about benefits of genetically modified cotton to be baseless. The company, in a series of newspaper advertisements issued in August, 2011, had claimed that GM cotton technology had boosted the income of Indian cotton farmers by over Rs.31,500 crore. The Advertising Standards Council of India has found that the claim has not been substantiated and has asked the seed company to drop this claim.

most of the Bt cotton hybrids available are for long staple cotton; thus, there has been a distortion in the output mix — and therefore in the availability of cotton of differing staple lengths and lint qualities, required for various end-uses. Extra long staple cotton, for example, is needed to make top-of-the line fabric, and its harvest is now just a tenth of what it was in 2003-04. Short staple cotton, which is used in hospitals for surgical purposes and by household industries for making quilts and mattresses, has also become scarce, with its output halving. Equally disquieting is the impact on the pest regime of the universal adoption of Bt seeds.

The Oommen Chandy Government will not permit any trials on genetically modified crops in the state. What is more, it has also been stated that even research on GM will not be permitted within the boundaries of the state. A communication from the Agriculture Department to the city-based NGO Thanal has said that the State Government’s stand regarding this has already been conveyed to the Union Government. While the previous LDF Government had categorically stated that Kerala would be a GM-free state, this could be the first written document from the present government saying the GM ban would continue to be in place.

Globally renowned social scientist, Ronald Herring, who is acclaimed the world over for his extensive and enlightening study on agriculture in South Asian countries including India, termed the brouhaha over Bt brinjal as nothing less than a political ‘tamasha’ and vehemently urged the stakeholders to respond more compassionately to the needs for food security in the country. [...] “We have seen in India how farmers have been benefited by Bt cotton crops. There is no evidence which says that farmers commit suicide due to failure of Bt cotton crops,” said Herring.

To give priority to foodgrain production, the Union ministry of agriculture has decided to discontinue the technological missions for cotton and jute in the 12th five-year plan, to commence from April 1. [...”] there is no reason why the government will fund a crop to meet overseas demand,” was the explanation. State governments had also been advised to ensure development of genetic varieties in home-grown (desi) cotton. [...] “Most of the output is the Bt (genetically modified) variety —extra long staple. It is good for export and not for the general domestic demand. We do not have enough cotton for denim, babyware, towels, etc, which need the desi (and less costly) variety.”

The introduction of genetically modified (Bt) cotton in 2002 helped push India to the rank of second-largest global producer. However, this has also led to a decline in output of premium quality cotton. “Bt has really helped certain varieties (long staple) of cotton. But, the output of other varieties, including extra long staple (ELS) and short staple (SS), has declined over the years since farmers switched to the high-yielding Bt crop,” said A B Joshi, commissioner in the Union ministry of textiles. Consequently, import of ELS cotton is estimated to increase to 1.7 million bales (170 kg each) in the current cotton year, a rise of nearly 90 per cent from the previous year.

Dalit Hak Rakshak Manch, an NGO, organised a discussion on Sunday on the exploitation of minor tribal girls and boys working in Bt cotton fields in the districts of North Gujarat. Rajesh Solanki of the NGO, which works for the welfare of Dalits and other marginalised people, gave an account of the condition of minor children who are forced to work as labourers in the cotton fields for a petty amount. Solanki said the tribal children from Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and other Gujarat towns located on the border with Rajasthan are brought to the Bt cotton fields by agents who pay their parents a hefty amount.

Brushing aside an embarrassing scandal in government-funded Bt cotton research as a one-off case, the agriculture ministry has said it would continue to aggressively push public research in genetic engineering. In the pipeline is the hunt for a next-generation “super Bt cotton”, a project worth Rs 8,200 crore. [...] The recent scandal is a one-off case,” Swapan Kumar Dutta, ICAR deputy director general of crops told HT. Dutta said the farm ministry, as a matter of policy, firmly believes in continuing research in genetic engineering.