FARMERS in India are attacking American biotechnology giant Monsanto, whose genetically engineered cotton seeds a’re undergoing field trials in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Although Monsanto has been given the go-ahead by the federal Government, farmers in the two southern states oppose the multinational seed company's introduction of the "terminator" seeds — genetically modified but sterile — and have set several experimental farms on fire. MPs have urged the Government to issue a clarification to put an end to panic that has gripped farmers, while the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly has passed a unanimous resolution requesting that the federal Government to ban Monsanto.

These trials are paving the way for the entry of the terminator gene, which would make it impossible to generate seeds for subsequent crops and would

force growers to depend on patented Western technology every sowing season." said Bangalore-based Mahanta Devaru Nanjundaswamy. a farmer who turned to teaching law and is now a full-time proponent of farmers' rights.

"This technology, ostensibly for protecting crops from pests ana for Improving quality and yields, could affect millions of farmers and threaten the country's overall strategies.” Although Monsanto has denied propagating the "terminator" seeds at any of the 40 trial farms it runs with its Indian partner. Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Co.. Monsanto's critics have capitalised on its reported bid to acquire Delta and Pine Land, the American Inventors of the controversial technology.

Even if the terminator gene is not .being clandestinely introduced, successive generations of these transgenic crops

will be less productive than the first. For sustained levels of high productivity, farmers will have to buy seeds from Monsanto every year." said Rameshwar Sharma, head of the biotechnology centre at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute in New Delhi. The Statesman newspaper said in an editorial that "what makes Monsanto's field trials suspect is the secrecy surrounding (the company! and the contradictory statements made by its spokesmen".

"Even the Indian Council of Agriculture has no Information about the experiments." it said. Monsanto was roped in after last year’s unprecedented cotton crop- failure, which led hundreds of fanners to commit suicide in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It promised to introduce transgenic cotton seeds capable of secreting a toxin that

kills ballrooms when they try to chew on the plant. However, the Geneva-based People's Action Group and independent farmers' bodies are convinced that the seed giant is using the opportunity to enslave Indian cotton growers by Introducing the terminator.seeds.

Several non-government organisations supporting the cotton growers have warned other farmers that Monsanto is also lobbying hard to secure government permission for experimental farming of edible crops like tomato, potato, maize, soyabean, mustard and papaya. NGOs have also pointed out that although the genetically engineered BT (Bacillus thuringiensis ) cotton seeds are pest-resistant, they are not really eco-friendly, as they pose a threat to beneficial species like bees, butterflies and beetles

Courtesy: South Ctna Morning Post