EXTRACTS: In an internal note... the ministry of environment and forests [of the Government of India] said, "It appears that this (announcing the failure of Bt cotton) could be a business strategy to phase out single gene events (the current variety) and promote double (stacked) genes which would fetch higher price."

The note stressed that the earlier variety was giving dwindling profits and the technology provider (Monsanto)'s financial returns on technology fee had greatly diminished in the last few years. "Switching to Bollgard II will not only fetch higher trait fee, but will also leave the competition, which as of now has only single gene products, far behind," the note said.

NOTE: Interesting if the Indian Government is right about this being a business strategy, given that this announcement was handled by Monsanto's headquarters in St Louis and not by Mahyco-Monsanto in India, suggesting it may be part of a wider strategy to admit problems with 1st generation GM crops in order to lure more farmers onto more expensive later generation GM seeds well ahead of 1st generation patent expiration.
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Bt cotton failure a profit ploy?
Nitin Sethi
The Times of India, March 12 2010
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bt-cotton-failure-a-profit-ploy/articleshow/5673195.cms

NEW DELHI: Did declining profitability prompt Monsanto's announcement that its Bt cotton variety had failed to beat the pink bollworm pest in four districts in Gujarat and could this be part of a ploy to promote its second generation GM cotton variety? The Union government thinks so.

In an internal note, that TOI accessed, the ministry of environment and forests said, "It appears that this (announcing the failure of Bt cotton) could be a business strategy to phase out single gene events (the current variety) and promote double (stacked) genes which would fetch higher price."

Believing that the seed giant is attempting to hardsell its new Bollgard II variety, the internal note said Monsanto may not have any incentive to continue with single gene event (the current Bollgard 1 variety) as a court order restricted Monsanto to sell the Bt cotton variety at a much lower price.

The note stressed that the earlier variety was giving dwindling profits and the technology provider (Monsanto)'s financial returns on technology fee had greatly diminished in the last few years. "Switching to Bollgard II will not only fetch higher trait fee, but will also leave the competition, which as of now has only single gene products, far behind," the note said.

The note also questioned the veracity of tests conducted by Monsanto and questioned the way the company went about announcing the failure of Bt cotton against the pink bollworm in Gujarat. The ministry noted that it was puzzling that the company had gone public with the failure of its own product without consultation with CICR Nagpur, which is the government body vested with powers to monitor the crop.

The government also noted that even if the company's statement was to be taken at face value, the danger that the new variety could also fail against the pest remained. "The company has indicated that the resistance development would have been caused by planting of unauthorised Bt cotton seeds and the non-adoption of refugia planting by the farmers. These are plausible causes, however, why has it not happened earlier and not in other bollworms? If these are issues with the adoption of refugia strategy, as it is being recommended today, then Bollgard II may also not be a solution," the note said.

The company, responding to the note, told TOI, "Firstly, we are unaware of a note you refer to, hence prefer not to speculate." A spokesperson for Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech added, "In 2009, over 65% of Gujarat cotton farmers chose to plant Bollgard II cotton seeds, and pre-season bookings for the 2010 season indicate that over 90% of Gujarat cotton farmers are expected to plant Bollgard II in the coming season. Overall, approximately 80% of cotton farmers nationally are expected to plant Bollgard II in the 2010 season."

But the ministry, which has been batting for a cautious approach to GM technology, warned, "It is a natural phenomenon that when pest population is exposed to Bt crops continuously for several years, may develop resistance to Bt toxin through natural selection or mutation."