1.Pawar - unleashing the corporations, ignoring their victims
2.AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SYSTEM TO BE STRENGTHENED - PAWAR
3.Transgenic crops in the pipeline: Pawar
4.TNAU plans Bt field trial
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1.Pawar - unleashing the corporations, ignoring their victims
GM Watch
Nobody should be more aware than India's Minister for Agriculture of the devastating nature of the country's current agrarian crisis. Sharad Pawar was formerly chief minister of the state at the very epicentre of the escalating farmer suicides wracking rural India, and Maharashtra still provides Pawar with his power base.
The critical role played by Bt cotton in the plague of suicides affecting India's debt-burdened farmers, has been identified by a whole series of observers. Here, for instance, is the New York Times in its report on the death of a Bt cotton farmer in Maharashtra:
"[Monsanto] has more than doubled its sales of Bt cotton ...but the expansion has been contentious... The modified seeds can cost nearly twice as much [many reports say 3 times as much] as ordinary ones, and they have nudged many farmers toward taking on ever larger loans, often from moneylenders charging exorbitant interest rates."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7037
And here's the Times of India:
"Most suicide cases relate to those farming families which have run up huge debts because of the high cost in using the expensive genetically-modified cotton seeds, which have to be bought every year. "
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7087
And here's the Rural Affairs editor of The Hindu, P Sainath, spelling it out still more bluntly:
"Firstly, Bt Cotton technologies are themselves suspect in a number of ways. However, promoting them in a dry and un-irrigated area like Vidarbha [the main cotton-belt of Maharashtra] was murderous. It was stupid, it was killing. 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
Pawar, you might think, with his intimate knowledge of Maharashtra, would have the strongest possible reason for recognising the danger of glibly promoting GM crops as the solution to India's problems. But you'd be wrong, as the following press release from India's Ministry of Agriculture, reporting Pawar's comments at a recent biotech conference, makes clear (see item 2).
Pawar, it seems, is all to keen to promote GM research as the way to meet India's agricultural needs. He boasts about India's "ambitious programme on agricultural biotechnology to ensure food security", and emphasises that while only GM cotton has so far been commercialised, there's a long list of other GM crops in India's development pipeline. Pawar also places a particular emphasis on the "decreasing availability of water for agricultural purposes", and underlines "the need for developing transgenic crops tolerant to increased drought conditions." (item 2)
But, as P Sainath has pointed out, India's agrarian crisis is not the product of water shortage but of failed policies from agriculture ministers, like Sharad Pawar, in a state of denial about the real problems afflicting India's farmers. It's thought that more than 18,000 of those farmers may end up killing themselves this year, the most ever recorded, but prior to the Prime Minister's visit to Maharashtra, Pawar tried to make light of the crisis, dismissing the spiralling suicides as nothing that wasn't "normal".
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main19.asp?filename=Ne090906The_relief_CS.asp
The PM's visit is condemned as mere PR, by Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a local pressure group for hard pressed farmers, which says over 900 farmers have committed suicide in Maharashtra's main cotton-belt of Vidarbha in just the last 15 months. Over 300 of those deaths have actually ocurred since the Prime Minister's summer visit and his announcement of an aid package. 124 farmers took their lives in September alone, more than in any of the preceding months. And VJAS has consistently reported that the majority have been Bt cotton farmers burdened by debt.
Worse still, Pawar has personally been involved in promoting Bt cotton in Maharashtra, according to VJAS. VJAS spokesman, Kishor Tiwari, also says that one of the brands of Bt seeds on sale - "Ajit Bt" - is actually owned by Pawar's nephew, Ajit Pawar. Pawar's political associates in the State government have also had a big hand in pushing Bt cotton.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6545
With that background, it's perhaps unsurprising that India's Agriculture Minister has never once visited any of the distressed families. But Pawar is perfectly happy to get up at a biotech conference and advertise his plans to give Indian farmers more of the same.
Indeed, Pawar told the conference that, "If used in a responsible manner, [GM crops] can help reduce poverty and improve the livelihoods of the rural poor." (item 3) That, of course, was exactly the promise held out by Monsanto and its political associates to desperate cotton farmers in places like Vidarbha.
But the main conference organisers will have been delighted with Pawar's message. The International Life Sciences Institute-India claims to be part of "a global network of scientists devoted to enhancing the scientific basis for public health decision-making," but ILSI is actually an international food lobbying outfit founded by the likes of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Kraft (owned by tobacco giant Philip Morris) and Procter & Gamble. ILSI was originally led by the vice-president of Coca-Cola and the funding of its regional groups, like ILSI-India, comes primarily from industry. Both Monsanto and Syngenta are on ILSI's governing board of trustees.
http://www.ilsi.org/NR/rdonlyres/CF3BD294-3E6F-4ED2-B320-220FA9EB39F1/0/ILSI2006BoardofTrustees.doc
But that won't have made them uneasy bedfellows for Sharad Pawar. Earlier this year the Indian Government signed up to an Indo-US pact with George Bush to promote biotechnology in Indian agriculture - an initiative overseen by a board including the agribusiness giant ADM, Wal-Mart and Monsanto.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6383
P Sainath describes multinationals like Monsanto as having played a "devastating" role in India's current farm crisis. But it's policy makers like Sharad Pawar who've promoted their interests and given them free rein.
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main19.asp?filename=Ne090906The_relief_CS.asp
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2.AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SYSTEM TO BE STRENGTHENED-SHRI PAWAR
Press release, Ministry of Agriculture, September 29 2006 http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=21040
The National Agricultural Research System (NARS) needs to be strengthened to meet the existing challenges of food production. Taking this into consideration The Government has accorded the much-needed thrust to research and development efforts in the recent past, which will be further augmented in the ensuing XIth Plan. This was stated here today by Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution while inaugurating an international conference on Recent Scientific Developments in Agricultural Bio-technology: Sharing Experiences and Knowledge which is sponsored by International Life Sciences Institute-India (ILSI-India), and ILSI-International Food Biotechnology Committee (ILSI-IFBiC) and co-sponsored by Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation, Government of India.
Shri Pawar enumerated key issues for increasing food production like strengthening and streamlining of transgenic research programme, capacity building and human resource development for effective utilisation of genetic transformation strategies for improving crop and ensuring proper flow of scientific and technical information as well as genetic materials for development and testing of transgenic crops. He also pointed out the need for creating confidence among consumers about the safety of genetically modified foods.
Expressing concern over the decreasing availability of water for agricultural purposes, the minister underlined the need for developing transgenic crops tolerant to increased drought conditions and less water requirement for extending area under cultivation and consequent increase in total food production. India had taken up an ambitious programme on agricultural biotechnology to ensure food security and is among the 21 countries in terms of acreage under GM crops. While Bt cotton has been commercialized many transgenic crops including brinjal, rice, tomoato resistant to leaf-curl virus, tomato with delayed ripening and improved shelf-life, potato with enhanced levels of essential amino acids, pigeonpea resistant to bollworm are in the pipe line for development. Besides many genes of agronomic and nutritional importance have been already cloned and are being introduced into crop species including cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetable crops, Shri Pawar added.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri D.H. Pai Panandiker, Chairman, ILSI-India underlined the need for use of bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides and called for policy initiatives for increased use of these items for environmental protection and soil restoration.
SBK:AMT:CP:research29.9.2006
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3.Transgenic crops in the pipeline: Pawar
Special Correspondent The Hindu, October 1 2006 http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/01/stories/2006100101571400.htm
*Food safety to be carried out on "strict scientific basis"
*Confidence needed to be built among consumers that GM foods are safe and eco friendly *Technology significant in addressing critical problems
NEW DELHI: Disregarding protests against genetically engineered foods and crops, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said that besides Bt cotton, there are several transgenic crops in the "pipeline." These include pigeon pea resistant to bollworm, Bt brinjal, tomato resistant to leaf curl virus, tomato with delayed ripening and improved shelf life and potato with enhanced levels of essential amino acids.
"Many genes of agronomic and nutritional importance have already been cloned and are being introduced into an array of crop species including cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetable crops," he told a conference on agriculture biotechnology here on Friday.
"Tremendous potential"
Transgenic technology was significant in addressing critical problems in improvement of crop plants particularly in the context of over-dependence on pesticides and other chemicals and lower production and productivity. Biotechnology offered a "tremendous potential" to tackle the issue of food security as well as nutritional security. "If used in a responsible manner, it can help reduce poverty and improve the livelihoods of the rural poor."
Adding a note of caution, Mr. Pawar said food safety and environmental risks assessments should be carried out on genetically modified (GM) crops on a "strict scientific basis." It was necessary to analyse benefits and cost to determine the socio-economic feasibility of implementing the technology.
The data generated "so far" had not shown genetically modified foods to be different from the conventionally bred food in terms of safety to human health and to the environment.
"However, confidence is needed to be built among the consumers that GM foods are safe and eco friendly."
Key issues
In this context, some key issues that needed immediate attention were strengthening and streamlining the transgenic research programme, capacity building and human resource development for effective utilisation of genetic transformation strategies for crop improvement and ensuring proper flow of scientific and technical information, genetic materials and other critical components related to development and testing of transgenic crops.
Mr. Pawar said the development of a strong capability in plant biotechnology was an "absolute priority" for the national research programme.
It was likely that genes and gene functions would increasingly be transferable among crops and between agricultural environments.
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4.TNAU plans field trial of transgenic version of (Bt) brinjal
ASHOK B SHARMA Financial Express, September 30 2006
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=141973
NEW DELHI, SEPT 29: Even before the controversy over the proposed field trials of Bt brinjal hybrids developed by Mahyco seed company, to be resolved, the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) has planned to go ahead with its programme for the transgenic version of the same crop.
Speaking to FE, TNAU's centre for molecular biology, director, P Balasubramanian said, "We have chosen four elite brinjal genotypes keeping regional preference of brinjal types in the mind. These elite genotypes - CO2, KKM1, MDU1 and PLR1 - are backcrossed to ingress cry 1 Ac gene. Currently, we are generating BC3F1 seeds. We propose to conduct field trials in early 2007. When these lines are approved for commercial cultivation, these lines will probably be the first GM edible crop. It will be the first of its kind which is derived out of public-private partnership in India."
Balasubramanian's words are not clear whether TNAU’s Bt brinjal would be the first food crop to be approved in the country or the transgenic brinjal hybrids developed by Mahyco.
The proposed field trials of Mahyco's Bt brinjal has entered into a controversy and the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has set up an inhouse panel to review the company's claims. The NGOs too have set up a panel of independent scientists to study the hazards connected with Bt brinjal hybrids.
Bt technology of the US seed multinational, Monsanto, was transferred to the public sector institutes in India under the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Programme-II funded by US Agency for International Development (USAID) and led by Cornell University.
TNAU, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Lucknow, and Mahyco are a part of the ABSP-II network.
TNAU has plans to develop tobacco streak virus resistant groundnut, late blight resistant potato and drought and salinity tolerant rice.
According to government sources, a number of transgenic crops are in the pipeline like Bt rice, leaf curl resistant and delayed ripening tomato, potato with enhanced levels of essential amino acids, GM mustard and bollworm resistant pigeaonpea.
The chairman of Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board, CD Mayee who has been recently elected as a full board member of ISAAA claimed the succes of Bt cotton in the country. The regulatory affairs officer of Monsanto, Roy L Fuchs claimed that Bt cotton has covered an area of 8.5 million hectare in the current season across the country.