www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

Up to 75 per cent of the Bt cotton seeds in 35 per cent of the area sown in
parts of Salem and Namakkal districts of Tamil Nadu is said to have failed
to germinate this season, according to the Monitoring and Evaluation
Committee comprising 20 civil society groups led by the Centre for
Sustainable Agriculture and Greenpeace India, November 2005 by Gargi Parsai.

The MEC, which is monitoring Bt cotton in five States, (to make up for
lack of monitoring by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee) found that
the situation on the ground seemed to be a repetition of the failure of the
Bt cotton hybrids of Naziveedu seeds in Andhra Pradesh where the story began
with germination failure. However, while in Andhra Pradesh, farmers agitated
for compensation and obtained it in some places, the story of germination
failure in Tamil Nadu has not been highlighted much except for some local
media reports, the MEC said.

Kavitha Kuruganti of Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Sekhar and
Sakthivel of Pasumai Tayagam visited the visit to Attur division of Salem
district. The findings, based on interviews with seed dealers, officials and
farmers confirmed that there had been a germination failure. "While this
failure of germination is being attributed to excessive rainfall, deeper
discussions with farmers and field visits revealed a different picture,"
they said in their report.

In this area, Bt Cotton hybrids of Rasi Seeds like RCH2 Bt, RCH 20 Bt etc.,
are being grown on around 6000 hectares (in addition to Mahyco varieties
like MECH 184 Bt etc.), out of a total area of 9000 hectares of cotton, as
per the district administration's office in Attur. The regular cotton
includes popular varieties like Suvin, LRA 5166.

The various findings of the MEC report showed that while the Rasi hybrids
exhibited the highest degree of problem in terms of germination failure,
there were a few cases of germination failure with Mahyco hybrids too.
Several farmers had to sow up to three times, to address the problem.
Farmers had ended up purchasing two containers of Bt Cotton per acre to
address the problem involving an expense of nearly Rs. 3500 rupees on the
seed cost alone. Even after re-sowing, there had not always been full
germination.

Visits to the fields and discussions with farmers, especially the ones who
had sown Bt Cotton and non-Bt Cotton clearly showed that with the same soil
conditions [adjacent plots] and rainfall conditions, Bt Cotton seed had
failed to germinate, while non-Bt Cotton varieties had shown 100 per cent
germination. Incidentally, the non-Bt cotton varieties in question like the
LRA varieties were available at Rs. 70 per kg, with the seed rate being
around two kg per acre, whereas Bt Cotton seed were available for Rs.
1725.00 per 450 gms, on an average.

The MEC have rued the lack of scientific mechanisms that would assess the
correct reasons for germination failure on the ground. Comparable data
between Bt Cotton farmers and non-Bt Cotton farmers in terms of sowing date,
soil quality, germination percentage etc., should be drawn officially.
Particular batches/lots of seed should be further analysed, they said.

`Bonus for companies'

Companies seemed to have made a lot of sales and money due to the
germination problem. Where a farmer would have bought one container of
seeds, two had to be bought. "Instead of the liability being fixed, the
problem is actually a bonus for the companies, where it is being
conveniently blamed on excessive rains."

They have demanded that the GEAC and the State Government should investigate
whether the seed production permissions given to the companies and the
actual supply of seed made available by them meet the market demand to rule
out the possibility of Bt Cotton seeds being adulterated.

[www.hinduonnet.com]

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