from p.v.satheesh in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India:

Dear Jonathan

In Andhra Pradesh (AP) alarm bells have been ringing ever since Bt cotton was planted. But most policy ears are so deaf [or colluding or both] that they never seem to be able to hear this. Look at the latest observations of a fact finding team sent by AP Coalition in Defence of Diversity which clearly says that farmers in just one district of AP, viz., Warangal District, stand to lose nearly US $12-18 million this season because of a serious wilt on Bt cotton. As the recent report on GM cotton growing in Makhathini Flats says, the poor have once again helped GM Crops.

This is no new phenomenon. Our scientists Dr Qayum and Mr Sakkhari have been warning about this possibility for the last two years. But the Bt cotton issue has become a big Bollywood tamasha in India and every year the industry finds a new hype and drama to push its seeds. The government is a colluder or a mute spectator. The Government of AP has taken just a Monopoly controller's view by price fixing. It does not want to bother about the environmental and social damage that the Bt cotton is creating. How this Greek Tragedy will conclude is a chilling thought.

Please see the report below:
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Wilting havoc on Bt cotton in Warangal; loss estimated at over Rs 50 crores; Demand for a moratorium on Bt cultivation
October 8, 2006
PRESS RELEASE

Bt cotton, beleagured in Warangal district, is reporting another major havoc. This comes in the form of drying up of crops [known as wilting] in over 250,000 acres of Bt cotton area in Warangal District which translates into a loss of over Rs.50 crores, US $12 million] for farmers. This is the finding of a fact finding team consisting of scientists, farmers, academicians and civil society groups which visited four mandals of Warangal on October 5, 2006.

A team of scientists and community researchers from the AP Coalition in Defence of Diversity who are tracking the performance of Bt cotton in Warangal for over five years now were noticing wilt and root rot since mid July this year. In order to have a broad based analysis of their findings, the APCID and WAGE [Warangal Against Genetic Engineering] constituted a 12 member Review Team which visited four mandals [L Ghanpur, Atmakur, Sayampet and Geesugonda] observing the farms of a number of farmers and holding extensive discussions with them on October 5, 2006. In the villages which the team visited, nearly 80-90% of the cotton acreage is made up of Bt cotton.

The farmers were using Bt seeds from diverse seed companies that included Rasi-2, Ajith-33, Mallika, Bunny, and Mahyco-6322. ALL THESE CROPS WERE SEVERELY AFFECTED BY THE WILT, especially on red soils, most of which are owned by poor small farmers. The farmers in these villages have been growing cotton for over three decades and have vast experience in understanding the behaviour of cotton crops. It was their unanimous opinion that they had never seen the kind and extent of wilt they are witnessing this season on Bt cotton.

On a conservative estimate this wilt will result in a loss of upto Rs.100 crores in Warangal District alone. Each farmer has already invested upto Rs.5000 to Rs 7000 per acre due to the wilting. Since the wilt is expected to have affected over 100,000 acres of red soils, in Warangal District, the domino effect of the wilt will mount to a formidable Rs.50 to Rs.75 crores [US $12-18 million].

Agricultural Scientist Mr Kiran Sakkhari who was in the team was of the opinion that the wilt symptoms are similar to root rot caused by Rhizocotonia sp. The typical symptoms of the rot caused by Rhizoctonia are sporadic wilting of the plants in the field. Initially leaves on the affected plants turn yellowish giving a mosaic pattern of alternative green and yellowish pattern on drooping leaves followed by the leaf drop, start getting dried up from top leading to the death of the plant. At times, these plants may also show Bacterial Leaf Blight symptoms. When the plant gets affected by this pathogen, the main root starts to decay and lose secondary root hairs, making plants unable to uptake water and nutrients from the soil leading to the death of the plant.

The Rhizoctonia root rot which was first identified on the Mahyco Bt hybrids by Dr Abdul Qayum and Mr Kiran Sakkhari the scientists of APCIDD in the year 2003, has been spreading more and more year after year. The report released by the APCIDD in early 2005 cautioned the farming and the scientific community that this might turn out to be a disaster with increased adoption of Bt hybrids, since the wilt incidence was noticed more on Bt hybrids than the conventional Non Bt hybrids.

The wilt has also a far reaching consequences. If grown on the same Bt cotton fields, the succeeding crops such as Chilly, Tobacco, Tomato and Groundnut would also be affected by this wilt since the fungal spores that transmit the disease are likely to remain active in the infected fields for 3-5 years.

Just as the farmers were getting aware of the harmful effects of Bt cotton and were readying themselves to abandon it, a new marketing blitzkrieg began by the industry which reduced the Bt seed price by over 70%. This suddenly put more than 80% of the cotton acreage in Warangal district under Bt hybrids marketed by various companies.

The APCID and the Warangal Against Genetic Engineering demand that In the wake of this huge loss to the farming community, the regulatory agencies must immediately gear up and take necessary steps to contain the false marketing hype created by the biotech seed companies and force them legally and otherwise to take the full responsibility for promoting these Bt hybrids by paying out compensation to the farmers who are staring at huge losses.

The APCID and WAGE also demand that

1 An independent commission must be constituted to find out the extent of damage caused by growing these Bt hybrids and pay the compensation to the farmers.

Regulatory agencies must immediately take stringent action on the false claims made by the companies. The regulatory are almost non existent at the present time and their comatose state has emboldened the Biotech industry to play havoc with he lives and soils of farmers in Warangal.

The government, in step with its earlier bold measures must declare a moratorium on the cultivation of Bt hybrids until a comprehensive study is undertaken taken on the possible impact of these hybrids on cotton environment and livestock.

p.v.satheesh
Convener
AP Coalition in Defence of Diversity, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

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