GMO industry lobby group exposed as promoting false hype about crop that fell victim to pests and disease
Deb Carstoiu of the pesticide and GMO industry lobby group CropLife International has written an article (item 2 below) hyping GM Bt brinjal in Bangladesh as “seeds of prosperity” for farmers.
But Farida Akhter of the Bangladeshi policy research group UBINIG followed up some of the claims in Carstiou’s article and uncovered evidence of Bt brinjal’s widespread failure (item 1 below). The latest crop appears to have fallen victim to pests and diseases, just as it did in previous years, according to detailed investigations by UBINIG and the United News of Bangladesh journalist Faisal Rahman.
1. “Misrepresentation” of Bt Brinjal farmers for corporate interest
2. PPPs: Planting the seeds of prosperity for Bangladeshi farmers
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1. “Misrepresentation” of Bt Brinjal farmers for corporate interest
Farida Akhter
UBINIG, 17 April 2017
http://ubinig.org/index.php/home/showAerticle/91/english/Farida-Akhter/‘Misrepresentation’-of-Bt-Brinjal-farmers-for-corporate-interest
[links to sources at the URL above]
Deb Carstoiu, Managing Director of plant biotech communications at CropLife International wrote a report on Bt Brinjal farmer Anisur Rahman Sheikh in a northern district of Bangladesh. According to Carstoiu, ‘Rahman Sheikh recently planted biotech eggplant for the first time. The biotech variety (Bt eggplant) repels or kills the fruit and shoot borer, and Rahman Sheikh is confident that it will make a difference for him and his family’ (see Deb Carstoui's 'PPPs: Planting the seeds of prosperity for Bangladeshi farmers’).
A farmer who has been growing local variety brinjals for last 10 years and has been surviving on its yield, now feels, according to Carstoiu, that Bt Brinjal will make a difference for him and his family.
Anisur did not harvest any Bt Brinjal yet. As he told Carstoiu “Already, the plants look stronger and healthier, I won’t know until the harvest, but the plants look good. I am expecting a good harvest with no losses.”
Surprisingly Carstoiu without any evidence jumps to the conclusion that “the Bt eggplant has shown close to 100 percent effectiveness in controlling pests. Not only have farmers’ incomes risen through increased yields, but the crop requires far fewer insecticide applications to reduce pests that threaten it”.
There is no evidence shown in the links about how many farmers were given the seeds/seedlings, the yield of the crop, income earned etc. No report has yet been published by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) on Bt Brinjal performances since 2014 except propaganda on showcase farmers.
UBINIG investigations of the farmers from first to third round of seed distribution showed failure in the farmers’ fields and loss of income. According to UBINIG investigation, in the second round Bt brinjals seedlings were given to 108 farmers, of which 79 farmers were interviewed by UBINIG and were found to have massive failures. Farmers from the first round claimed compensation from BARI for their economic losses.
In the third round of field cultivation, none of the farmers from second round were included. If it was successful then there would have been a demand from the farmers as well as from BARI and Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) to continue with the same farmers who have gained some knowledge and experiences and establish the ‘successes.
In January 2016, 37 farmers contacted by UBINIG told that they were not even contacted by DAE or BARI, and farmers were not interested to cultivate. The reasons were massive failures in the previous field cultivation. Three farmers in 3 districts have cultivated in smaller size plots at the request of the authorities. However, the entire management of cultivation was done by officials, not the farmers.
In our search for Anisur Rahman Sheikh from Sadullahpur village (not mentioned in the story which district) UBINIG investigator Abdul Zabbar went to Bogra on 5th April, 2017 and found the Mohisaban market. No Brinjal seller could recognize the name Bt brinjal as one of the varieties sold in the market, as the Bt brinjals are brought to the market, grossly violating the approval condition, without any labels. There is no village in the name of Shadullahpur in this district; but it could be in the adjacent district of Gaibandha according to Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Bogra and Bangladesh Academy of Rural Development (BARD), Bogra.
The scientist Hasan Tanbir was not available but his contacts were given by the officials. When contacted over phone, Tanbir was not interested to discuss about his involvement and Crop Biotech’s claims.
In the visit UBINIG investigator Abdul Zabbar met Mujibur Rahman Montu, commonly known as Montu Mia (55) who was given by DAE officials 5 grams of Bt brinjal seeds in November 2016, which he planted in 10 decimal land. They told him that he will not have to use any pesticide in cultivating this brinjal.
However the story is different. Montu Mia is a brinjal farmer, cultivating local varieties for many years. He had cultivated the local brinjals in 10 decimal piece of land last year. He tried Bt Brinjal at the request of DAE officials this year. But the plant did not flower in due time. He found that the leaves of Bt brinjal plants were curled due to infestation of insects and mite. The DAE officer advised him to buy pesticide from the local pesticide shop. Afterwards Montu Mia saw some flowers in the plants, but now the plants started to have shoot rottening. The DAE again suggested another pesticide for this disease. So he already applied two kinds of pesticides in the Bt Brinjal plants, yet he did not get enough yield of brinjals.
Montu Mia lamented that in the same field of 10 decimal, he cultivated local variety brinjals before and earned Tk. 8,000 – Tk. 10,000, but from Bt brinjal he could earn Tk.700 to Tk.800 only - ten times lower income than local varieties. He could not get the return of the money he invested for the crop. He is advised to use more fertilizers and pesticides to get better yield. To rescue what remained he had to use more fertilizers and pesticides.
Bt Brinjal stories disseminated by its promoters have always been full of lies and total disregard to strict scientific and ethical principles. If ethical strictness were followed, a meaningful public discourse could have developed and public assessment of science and technology would have been objectively developed. Scientific experiment conducted in good intention, may fail for many reasons, but science could also gain from failures.
Persistent false claims and blatant lies are not the only problems in the desperate attempt to introduce Bt Brinjal in Bangladesh, the sheer notion of science has been malignly compromised. Denial of all ethics of research in potentially risky areas such as transgenic crops will, in the end, further jeopardize the public assessment of a product and science will appear as a caricature of few propagandist who are desperate to safeguard the interest of transnational corporations.
Bt brinjal is not only a failure, it is a disaster both to farmers and scientists.
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2. PPPs: Planting the seeds of prosperity for Bangladeshi farmers
By Deb Carstoiu
Devex, 30 March 2017
https://www.devex.com/news/sponsored/ppps-planting-the-seeds-of-prosperity-for-bangladeshi-farmers-89425#sthash.QWY3EKL0.dpuf
The eggplant, known in Asia as brinjal, is one of the most inexpensive and popular vegetable crops grown in Bangladesh, ranked only below the potato and onion in terms of total production. It is a major source of income for around 8 million smallholder farmers, and a mainstay in the diet of the nation’s 160 million people. However, the crop is constantly under threat from the fruit and shoot borer — a moth species whose larvae burrow into the eggplant, destroying it from within. If not controlled, the pest can damage up to 100 percent of a field of eggplants and threaten the smallholder farms that depend on it.
On his farm in northern Bangladesh, Anisur Rahman Sheikh told us that he has been growing brinjal for 10 years. While it’s not a difficult crop to grow, he said the impact of the fruit and shoot borer can be disastrous for eggplant farmers.
“Two years ago, 50 percent of my crop was lost to the borer,” he recounted. “I lost a lot of money and seriously considered giving up the crop altogether.”
Given the social and nutritional importance of the eggplant, public and private sector scientists and farmers have pooled their expertise to find both economically sustainable and environmentally friendly ways to tackle the pest.
Rahman Sheikh recently planted biotech eggplant for the first time. The biotech variety (Bt eggplant) repels or kills the fruit and shoot borer, and Rahman Sheikh is confident that it will make a difference for him and his family.
“Already, the plants look stronger and healthier,” he said. “I won’t know until the harvest, but the plants look good. I am expecting a good harvest with no losses.”
In fact, the Bt eggplant has shown close to 100 percent effectiveness in controlling pests. Not only have farmers’ incomes risen through increased yields, but the crop requires far fewer insecticide applications to reduce pests that threaten it.
Rahman Sheikh explained that a good harvest will have a significant impact on his life.
“You see, my house is still not complete,” he said. “So if I get more crops, I get more profit and I can repair my house and I can contribute to my kids’ education, their health, and their safety.”
We visited plant scientist Hasan Tanbir from the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, the country’s public research body that helped bring the Bt eggplant to Bangladesh. BARI has been distributing saplings to farmers, and providing training on good stewardship and best practices. In a country where agriculture is so important to the economy, he said the adoption of new technology is vital.
“Over 90 percent of Bangladeshi people work in agriculture, and food security is very important to our country,” said Tanbir. “Farmers were becoming afraid to grow brinjal. But with the Bt gene inserted to fight the borer, farmers can be successful with an important crop. It is essential for these farmers.”
The insect-resistant Bt eggplant in Bangladesh was facilitated by the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II, funded by the United States Agency for International Development and led by Cornell University in very close collaboration with BARI. The project’s goal is to commercialize biotech crops to complement conventional agricultural approaches to help alleviate poverty, reduce hunger and boost food and nutrition security. The Bt eggplant was commercialized in Bangladesh in 2013.
Initially developed in the private sector, the Cry1-Ac protein produced in the Bt eggplant — and which repels the borer — is similar in structure to that found in nature, and is used commercially in the form of Bt-based biopesticides, often used by organic growers. Through a creative partnership and licensing agreement between private and public actors, the Bt eggplant is available to farmers who can most benefit, with no additional technology fees or royalties payable. In addition, farmers will not only be permitted, but actively encouraged, to save their seeds.
Just like the biotech sorghum plant that can tackle blindness, the Bt eggplant is another compelling example of how public and private sector expertise can pull together to meet huge global challenges such as hunger, malnutrition and poverty. By harnessing our collective strengths, including research and development, manpower, resources and facilities, huge progress can be made.
Deb Carstoiu: Deb Carstoiu is managing director of plant biotech communications at CropLife International, the global voice for the plant science industry. She has worked in plant biotechnology communications for more than 15 years.