Hybrid hope

Even as the jury is still out on whether genetically modified crops affect biodiversity and lack nutritive value,two districts of Gujarat...

Even as the jury is still out on whether genetically modified crops affect biodiversity and lack nutritive value,two districts of Gujarat Panchmahals and Dahod have embraced hybrid maize seeds. The reason: record production with the use of Dekalb hybrid seeds.

In fact,Gujarats Tribal Development Department TDD has now decided to increase the command area under Project Sunshine an ambitious venture meant to increase agricultural productivity in the tribal belt of the state to 1.6 acres with the help of GM crop manufacturer Monsanto and Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers Corporation GNVFC. At present,the project encompasses 720 villages covering 72,000 acres in Panchmahals and Dohad. In each village in the two districts,a minimum of 100 acres are planted with Dekalb hybrid seeds.

Officials at the Gujarat Rural Institute for Socio-Economic Reconstruction,Vadodara,said that in Dahod,where the organisation was made part of the project,the results have been spectacular.

Earlier,only 600 kg of corn were produced from one acre of land. In the last cropping season,1800 kg of corn were harvested in the district, said an official.

Neeta Buxa,a senior consultant for the project and who is with the Rural Development Department, said that this year 1.6 lakh acres of land would be brought under the project in the existing districts as well as Chota Udepur in Vadodara district and Palanpur in Sabarkantha district. We have asked Anand Agricultural University AAU to prepare Environmental Assessment Report for the project this year,which would commence after the seeds are sown, added Buxa.

The flip side

The dramatic increase in the yield notwithstanding,there are things that go against corn hybrid seeds. The Sunshine Project,which is a year old now,does not have Environmental Assessment Report something which TDD officials consider extremely important for implementation of any project involving large-scale cultivation of hybrid crops.

And even as farmers have registered a three-fold increase in production,the agricultural practices have been altered with large-scale use of fertilizers and insecticides to maintain the yield.

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According to the project proposal,the fertilizer requirement for every 612 metric tonnes of seeds was shown to be 12,000 metric tonnes.

Businessman and farmer from Gharbada,Idris Shaikh,said that every acre of land used for sowing Dekalb seeds requires 50 kg of Diammonium Phosphate DAP,50 kg of potash and 100 kg of urea. Farmers also have to use insecticides such as monocrotophos,methyl parathion,mhorate and endosulfan to counter diseases.

Water crisis

In Dahod,where the pilot project was conducted in 2007,there is an acute water supply problem forcing farmers to buy water at high prices. Villagers said that though hybrid seeds are good,they had little water to nurture them.

In the villages of Gharbada in Dahod,farmers pay Rs 80-100 for an hours supply of water from rain-fed lakes and ponds. These seeds have doubled our yield,but all our resources are lost in getting the water supply, said Shaikh.