The Hindu Business Line : Seeds of litigation

Monsanto is approaching the apex court to challenge a recent order of the MRTPC. The order directed Mahyco Monsanto Biotech India Ltd not to charge the trait value of Rs 900 for a 450 gm-packet of Bt cottonseeds.

Instead, fix a reasonable trait value, considering what is charged by the parent company in neighbouring countries such as China, ruled the Commission.

The order had been issued on a complaint filed by the Andhra Pradesh Government in January, objecting to the pricing policy of Monsanto.

"The company procured seeds at Rs 200-250 for 750 gm from farmers but sold the same to growers at Rs 1,850 a packet of 450 gm. Of this, the company held back Rs 1,250 as trait value," as www.flonnet.com had reported in January 2006.

"In contrast, Monsanto sold a 750 gm packet of the Bt cottonseed at as low a price as Rs 450 a packet in other countries."

According to Mr N. Raghuveera Reddy, Agriculture Minister of Andhra Pradesh, the company has sold seeds worth Rs 130 crore in India since 2002; of this amount, Monsanto had held back Rs 78 crore as trait value.

Also, the company never responded to demands to pay Rs 3 crore as compensation to farmers whose crop had failed in the State. While there can be debate on the reasonableness of Monsanto moving the Supreme Court against the MRTPC's `reasonable' order, it will be useful to see what comes up if you were to search for other legal battles of Monsanto.

"Vietnamese Agent Orange Victims Sue Dow and Monsanto in US Court," reports Znet (www.zmag.org) . "Syngenta defeats Monsanto transgenic corn patent suit," says MarketWatch (www.marketwatch.com) .

"Monsanto, the agricultural giant that filed hundreds of lawsuits against farmers in the US and Canada over patented corn, is often used as an example of the worst-case scenario," notes www.truthabouttrade.org, in a Hawaiian report dated May 2.

It cites Mililani Trask, Pacific Basin representative to the UN permanent forum on indigenous issues, to emphasise that in a worst-case scenario, the patent-holder could have the right to uproot the crops of farmers found to be infringing on patent law!

More Stories on : Seeds | Courts/Legal Issues | Bio-tech & Genetics | Cotton

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