A tangled cotton yarn

The panel was set up in response to the Gujarat Rajya Seed Association’s (GRSA) representation that the Bt cotton crop, both Mahyco and Navbharat, had failed, and since permission was given to only one company, the sale of spurious seeds was affecting their business.

Submitted to the government four months ago, the report says the three varieties marketed by Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco), an Indian partner of multinational Monsanto, are not fit for Gujarat. Also that the unauthorised Navbharat 151 seeds give more and better quality yield than the Mahyco seeds.

Encouraged by the illegal seeds’ better performance over two seasons, farmers are likely to prefer it even in the next season, the report says. ‘‘If the illegal sowing continues, it will engender a whole lot of problems like (the sale of) spurious seeds. Given the farmers’ anguish, it’s better if the government makes available varieties like the Navbharat 151 at reasonable rates,’’ it adds.

Sangani, who retired last month, told The Indian Express that the Mahyco varieties should be banned in Gujarat. ‘‘Some farmers even told committee members that they would continue to grow it (the illegal Navbharat variety) even if you come to us armed with rifles,’’ he says.

The report was based on visits to fields in the Bhavnagar, Amreli, Rajkot, Surendranagar, Bharuch, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Sabarkantha, and Mehsana districts. It states that Navbharat 151 has been sown in 50-60 per cent of the total area in which hybrid cotton is being cultivated.

Quoting farmers, the report says: ‘‘The sale of high-priced Mahyco seeds almost amounted to looting farmers. It’s difficult to understand how the government permitted Mahcyo to market its seeds when it failed miserably in Kharif 2002.’’

Another member, B.S. Darji of Gujarat State Cooperative Marketing Federation, said, ‘‘I am totally against the Mahyco varieties, as they are not advisable for sowing.’’

GRSA general-secretary Pratapsinh Jhala said, ‘‘We are not against Monsanto, but they are not the only one to have the technology. We wrote to the Centre demanding that the technology be freed and other companies also be permitted to market Bt cotton. But we are yet to get any response.’’

Agriculture Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, said, ‘‘I am not in a position to say anything off-hand.’’ All he recollected was that despite the Centre’s direction to burn illegal Bt crop, the Gujarat government hadn’t done so.

Dr A.G. Dixit, Director of Agriculture, said the report had been forwarded to the state. However, he said, ‘‘We won’t jump to conclusions on the basis of studies conducted in one season. The Mahyco variety will be under cultivation for three years.’’

While it’s still not clear what the government has done with the report, the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, the largest farmers’ body in the state, is clear about its stand.

BKS secretary Magan Patel says, ‘‘Principally, we are against Bt cotton. But since the Centre has permitted its cultivation, we want local companies to be given marketing rights too. In any case, we will have to take to the streets to make our stand clear.’’