1.Bt cotton crop fails in Tamil Nadu
2.Monsanto in trouble over herbicide price
3.AP govt agrees to out-of-court settlement with Monsanto

EXTRACTS: US biotech giant Monsanto is heading for fresh trouble.

The DGIR report recommending inquiry against Monsanto India Ltd comes even as its sister concern Mahyco Monsanto Biotech Ltd and parent company US-based Monsanto are battling legal cases in MRTPC. (item 2)

The Tamil Nadu government has asked Mahyco to pay compensation to farmers for failure of Bt cotton in the state in the current season.

Bt cotton crop has failed in Dharampuri, the major producing district in the state. (item 1)

GM WATCH COMMENT: There's a very important statement by Andhra Pradesh agriculture minister N Raghuveera Reddy in the third article below about the impact of lower prices for Monsanto-Mahyco's Bt seed on Bt cotton farmers, "Today, farmers are able to get the genuine BT cotton seed and there is no trace of spurious cotton seed in the state."

This is exactly what the famers' campaign group Vidharbha Jan Andolan Samiti have been reporting from the main cotton-growing belt of Maharashtra - that it is Monsanto-Mahyco's seeds and not spurious Bt seeds that have been letting Bt cotton farmers down.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7430

---

1.Bt cotton crop fails in Tamil Nadu
ASHOK B SHARMA
Financial Express, January 5 2007
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=150830

CHIDAMBARAM, JAN 4: After Andhra Pradesh, it is now Tamil Nadu where the much hyped Bt cotton seeds of Mahyco has run into rough weather. The Tamil Nadu government has asked Mahyco to pay compensation to farmers for failure of Bt cotton in the state in the current season.

Bt cotton crop has failed in Dharampuri, the major producing district in the state. The farmers and the local NGO Pasumai Vakatan had complained to the district collector and subsequently to the joint director for agriculture in charge of Dharampuri, Duraisamy.

Duraisamy had on December 22, 2006 asked the scientists at Coimbatore Agriculture University to verify the fact. The scientists conducted tests on the soil where the crops were planted and took samples of the seeds sown.

Speaking over the phone the Tamil Nadu agriculture minister Veera Pandi Arumugam confirmed reports and told FE, "The authorities had informed me that improper seeds only had caused all the problems. I had talked to the chief minister immediately and I had ordered that the said company should not sell any type of seeds in Tamil nadu. We had advised the company to pay compensation to the affected farmers. So the farmers need not be worried."

The minister further added, "We have formed a cell to safeguard the interests of farmers under the leadership of the chief minister. Experts from various sections of agriculture ministry shall be in the cell. They shall watch out for the problems of farmers and keep submitting solutions for the problems. On the whole, our objective is there should not be any problem to the farmers."
---

2.Monsanto in trouble over herbicide price
CNN-IBN, January 5 2005 http://www.ibnlive.com/news/monsanto-in-trouble-over-herbicide-price/30392-7.html

New Delhi: US biotech giant Monsanto is heading for fresh trouble. Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission's (MRTPC) investigative arm Director General of Investigation and Registration (DGIR) has recommended an inquiry against its subsidiary Monsanto India Ltd for selling herbicides at high prices.

In its preliminary report, the DGIR has found that Monsanto India Ltd adopted unfair and restrictive trade practices in relation to sale of herbicides.

The DGIR has suggested that the MRTPC should start an inquiry against the company.

DGIR is understood to have said Monsanto India charged very high prices and reaped "unreasonable" profits.

The company also underutilised its production capacity at Silvassa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It was using less than 10 per cent of the installed capacity but even then managed a profit margin of about 20 per cent.

"We have not received any information and are not in a position to respond," a Monsanto India spokesperson told PTI.

The DGIR report recommending inquiry against Monsanto India Ltd comes even as its sister concern Mahyco Monsanto Biotech Ltd and parent company US-based Monsanto are battling legal cases in MRTPC.

Share price of Monsanto India ended 2.28 per cent per cent down to Rs 1,463 in a flat market.
---

3.AP govt agrees to out-of-court settlement with Monsanto
CORPORATE BUREAU
Financial Express, January 2 2007
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=150515

HYDERABAD, JAN 1: In a significant move, the Andhra Pradesh government expressed its willingness to have an 'out-of-court settlement' with Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech Ltd in the 'BT cotton seed' issue, however, with a rider.

Speaking to the media here on Sunday, AP agriculture minister N Raghuveera Reddy said the AP government had no objection to the out-of-court proposal by the company as long as it would be beneficial to farmers in the country. "The government has no problem and is even ready for the out of the court settlement, if the proposal benefits the farmers and reduces the cost of cotton crop," Reddy said.

The company had recently a