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The heated battle between Bt and organic cotton has just got a new twist in
Punjab, with organic farmers claiming neighbouring fields growing Bt cotton
were a threat to their certification?and, consequently, their prices and
sales, Mai 2005.

Though various certification agencies have their own criteria, the most
common one requires farmers to grow their produce under controlled
conditions for at least three years. With a section of cotton farmers of the
state now reaching the crucial third year, widespread introduction of Bt
cotton, they say, could endanger their status.

Spearheading the fight is Dharani Organic Farming, a consortium of 280
farmers affiliated with SGS, a Japan-headquartered certifying agency. ??SGS
stipulates that no Bt cotton should be grown in a 6-km radius around organic
farms. If Bt pollen is transferred to our fields via wind or insects, our
crops will no longer qualify as organic,?? says Sunil Gupta, president of
the consortium.

As evidence of the new fears of farming in a globalised world, the farmers
hold up the example of a papaya farmer in Hawaii, whose clients refused to
give him the price for organic produce since the fields around his were
growing biotransgenic foods.

??The state government has nothing by way of a safety net for us. In fact,
it is pushing Bt cotton without regard for how it may impact us,?? Gupta
said, adding that his group represents about 80 organic cotton farmers in
the districts of Mansa, Faridkot, Muktsar, Moga and Bathinda.

Organic cotton fetches higher prices in the export market?upto 100 per cent
more, depending on a variety of criteria?and also in the domestic arena.

B S Sidhu, director, Agriculture, agrees Bt could well be a threat to
neighbouring organic farms. ??At the moment, though, we have no system to
tackle the issue. We advise Bt farmers to grow at least five rows of refuge
(a non-Bt strain of the same variety of the particular crop) on all sides of
their fields.

Organic farmers, too, can fall back on some such method,?? he says, adding
that the subject needed to be studied in detail.


Building Barriers


Cotton farmers could take a leaf out of the book of Khanna-based organic
wheat farmer Charan Gill. Perturbed by his neighbours? polluting practice of
burning post-harvest crop stubbles?he himself reploughs the remnants?he
announced through the Panchayat that if the fire spread in his fields, the
farmer responsible would have to pay him compensation. ??So far, no nearby
farmer has set their crop-leftovers on fire,?? says the Lasera villager.

[www.indianexpress.com]

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