The Hindu Business Line : Speak on Bt ill-effects, Reddy told

Hyderabad May 4 The AP Coalition in Defence of Diversity (APCID), an association of non-governmental organisations, has asked the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, to present the Bt cotton disaster in the ensuing World Agricultural Forum meetings scheduled to be held in St Louis (the US) next week.

"This is important to blow the lid of the false hype generated by the genetic engineering industry," Mr P.V. Satish, Convener of APCID, said.

In an open letter to the Chief Minister on the eve of his visit to the US to address the Forum, the Coalition reminded him of the importance of St Louis, where the Forum was being held. "It is the headquarters of Monsanto whose genetically engineered Bt cotton seeds have caused havoc for small farmers in Andhra Pradesh," he said.

CASE STUDIES

Citing studies conducted on Bt cotton by the Coalition, he said the results pointed to not only economic failure of Bt cotton but also to the new diseases and disasters it had brought for soil, animal and human health.

"To cultivate, Bt cotton cost 17 per cent more than the non-Bt cotton NPM (non-pesticidal management) farmers, who used neither Bt nor any pesticides on their farms, spent 23 per cent less than Bt farmers," he said.

In terms of yield, Bt cotton's advantage was a paltry 6 per cent. The net return for Bt farmers was 35 per cent less than NPM farmers, he claimed.

The Coalition also wanted the Chief Minister to tell the Forum how Andhra Pradesh had forced companies to reduce the price of Bt cottonseed to Rs 750 from Rs 1,850.

More Stories on : Bio-tech & Genetics | Andhra Pradesh

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