GM WATCH COMMENT: The following opinion piece is by Felipe Osorio, the director of Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Limited. It was published by the Indian daily paper, the Financial Express, as part of a special feature that also included pieces by Dr Suman Sahai and Bhaskar Goswami.
Many of Osorio's key claims are open to question, to the point where its title - "Clothed in genetic success, Modified cotton has seen phenomenal production" - may put some in mind of the Emperor's New Clothes.
Here are a few examples.
*Osorio: Indian farmers want GM crops because they reduce costs and increase productivity.
Comment: Could Mahyco Monsanto's massive campaign of hype, which has included everything from dancing girls to a touring Bollywood star, have had anything to do with why Indian farmers want GM crops?
Mahyco Monsanto, and its sub-licensee Bt seed companies, have been accused of pulling every dirty trick in the PR book in order to lure India's farmers into using GM cotton.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5741
*Osorio: Biotechnology in Indian agriculture is playing a vital role in rural areas
Comment: It's certainly hard to tally Osorio's statement with India's agrarian crisis or the spiralling numbers of Bt cotton farmers who've taken their own lives.
The Rural Affairs editor of The Hindu, P Sainath, has described the impact in some parts of rural India of multinationals like Monsanto as "devastating".
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main19.asp?filename=Ne090906The_relief_CS.asp
The Times of India has noted that most farmer suicides "relate to those farming families which have run up huge debts because of the high cost in using the expensive genetically-modified cotton seeds."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7087
That's why Sainath describes the promotion of Bt cotton in some areas of rural India as simply "murderous... killing," which is somewhat different from "vital".
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main19.asp?filename=Ne090906The_relief_CS.asp
*Osorio: The steadily increasing Bollgard acres being planted by increasing numbers of Indian farmers bear testimony to its success.
Comment: The same could have been said about the ever increasing number of investors caught up in any stock market bubble - before it finally burst, that is.
Donald White, a University of Illinois plant pathologist, describes the way that hype and fashion can drive farmer choices as "a herd mentality". "Everyone has to have a biotech program", he says, and that chimes in with a University of Iowa study on farmers growing GM soya. The study found that while increasing yields was cited by the majority of farmers in the study as the reason for their choosing GM soya, the research showed they were actually getting lower yields!
http://www.gmwatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=49&page=1
*Osorio: The second IMRB study conducted in 2005 reconfirms that for the fourth successive year, the benefits of Bollgard cotton to Indian farmers included better yields, reduced pesticides use and higher profits.
Comment: What Osorio doesn't tell the reader is that IMRB are a market research company hired by Monsanto. Nor does he mention that the company's methods and findings have been heavily contested. A number of other studies - some involving significantly greater farmer contact then the IMRB surveys - have consistently shown higher net profits from non-Bt cotton.
*Roundup Ready soyabeans, corn, cotton and insect protection in YieldGard corn enable farmers to produce crops more efficiently, reduce their tillage and pesticide use.
Again these assertions are open to question. For instance, a US Dept of Agriculture (USDA) report contested the claim about reduced tillage. To quote, "Using herbicide-tolerant seed did not significantly affect no-till adoption"
The same USDA report also concluded:
+GM crops do not increase yield potential and may reduce yields.
+Bt insecticide GM corn has had a negative economic impact on farms.
+GM herbicide-tolerant crops have produced no reduction in herbicide active ingredient applied.
+"Change in pesticide use from the adoption of herbicide-tolerant cotton was not significant."
+For herbicide-tolerant soya, active ingredient of herbicide applied has increased.
+"The adoption of herbicide-tolerant soybeans does not have a statistically significant effect on net returns."
The report also says, "Perhaps the biggest issue raised by these results is how to explain the rapid adoption of GE crops when farm financial impacts appear to be mixed or even negative." ('The Adoption of Bioengineered Crops', US Department of Agriculture Report) http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/usdagmeconomics.htm
*Osorio: GM is the single most powerful tool available at present to address India's food and fibre requirements
Comment: No evidence is produced to support this assertion.
*Osorio: Monsanto is committed to serving farmers
Comment: Several Indian State governments would beg to differ, to judge by the case they have successfully taken to the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) over the excessive charges Monsanto levies on farmers for its Bt cotton.
P Sainath reports, "The Bt Cotton packet was costing Rs 1800 to 1850 for a packet of 450 grams. On each packet of Rs 1850, Monsanto was making a royalty of Rs 1250."
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main19.asp?filename=Ne090906The_relief_CS.asp
Monsanto has fought tooth and nail not to significantly reduce its prices, even while endebted farmers who've bought into the myth of Bt cotton have continued taking their lives in record numbers.
Given this article's almost fairytale detachment from the ground realities of rural India, perhaps, "Clothed in PR success, Modified cotton has seen phenomenal promotion," might have been a more appropriate title.
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Clothed in genetic success
Modified cotton has seen phenomenal production
Felipe Osorio Financial Express, 4 October 2006
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=142282
India has 16% of the world's population but only 2% arable land. With population crossing the 1.2 billion mark by 2020 and arable land decreasing, increasing yield and productivity is the only way to solve the food insufficiency problems. Plant biotechnology or genetically modified (GM) crops play a role in making agriculture more sustainable and productive and though it is not a panacea for all food production problems; it is the single most powerful tool available at present to address its food and fibre requirements.
The Indian government's vision for biotechnology development highlights the need for agricultural biotechnology and the potential it bears for India's growth. Farmers want biotechnology crops because they reduce costs and increase productivity. Monsanto, which is committed to serving farmers, sees technology as a driver for future growth in agriculture.
India is the largest cotton producing country in the world and more than 50% of the pesticide used in agriculture is used on cotton plants. Bollgard, the first insect-protected technology for cotton was approved in India in 2002 and introduced by Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited (Mahyco) to whom Monsanto had licensed the technology. India has a well-developed regulatory regime for GM crops and Mahyco received this regulatory approval after nearly eight years of safety trials and studies. The rigorous scientific studies conducted demonstrate that Bollgard is safe for the environment, human beings, animals and agriculture.
A 50:50 marketing joint venture formed between Mahyco and Monsanto, called Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Limited (MMB) sub-licensed the technology to approximately 20 Indian cotton seed companies. These have incorporated the trait into their best hybrids and conduct their own research trials, offering the best products to the farmer.
Biotechnology in Indian agriculture is playing a vital role in rural areas, which India experienced with the introduction of Bollgard. In March 2002, 72,000 acre worth of Bollgard was sold to 55,000 farmers. In 2003, the acreage under Bollgard cotton increased three-fold to 2,30,000 planted by 1,25,000 farmers. In 2004, Bollgard sales rose to 1.3 million acre, a six- fold increase over the previous year, planted by approximately 3,50,000 farmers. In 2005, Bollgard was planted by more than million farmers across 3.1 million acre. For this year's Bollgard season, farmers have a choice of 48 hybrids from 13 seed companies across India's nine cotton-growing states. While the final sales figure for 2006 are still to be arrived at, it is expected to cross the six million-acre mark. Clearly, the steadily increasing Bollgard acres being planted by increasing number of Indian farmers bear testimony to its success.
The second IMRB study conducted in 2005 covering 4,799 farmers across 31 cotton growing districts in the nine cotton growing states reconfirms that for the fourth successive year, the benefits of Bollgard cotton to Indian farmers included better yields, reduced pesticides use and higher profits. The introduction of Bollgard technology for cotton reduced the use of pesticides by 25% and put an additional income of Rs 2,100 crore in the hands of the farmers through a 64% yield increase. In addition, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications report, Global status of commercialised bio-tech/GM crops 2005, states that "India had the highest percentage year-on-year growth among biotech countries in 2005 with a 160% increase in Bt cotton hectares over the previous year'. The report further says: "Increased plantings of Bollgard also led to an increase in the national average mean lint yield (kg per hectare) from 460 in 2004 to 465 in 2005."
India's cotton production has seen a phenomenal rise since the introduction of Bollgard in 2002. According to the latest updates of the agricultural ministry, the total coverage under cotton during 2006-07 so far is 6.75% higher at 84.47 lakh hectare against 79.13 lakh hectare last year.
One of biggest challenges Monsanto faces is that of unapproved seeds. Such seeds deprive farmers from receiving the full benefit of the technology. Unapproved GM seeds may not bring appropriate returns to farmers and may also have environmental issues. It also results in loss of confidence for public and private sector developers of biotechnology products for India, who delay or even, decline to introduce new products.
Our research and development is focused on farmers and we are looking at developing drought-resistant and saline-resistant crops in the future. Recently Bollgard II, a new and improved version, has been introduced. Biotechnology traits such as herbicide tolerance in Roundup Ready Soyabeans, corn, cotton and insect protection in YieldGard corn enable farmers to produce crops more efficiently, reduce their tillage and pesticide use.
- The writer is director, Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Limited