Cotton Farmers Suicide In Punjab A Wakeup Call For Govt. And Growers

Industry news

Cotton Farmers Suicide In Punjab A Wakeup Call For Govt. And Growers

1. Whitefly hits BT cotton in Punjab and Haryana and damaged over one third of the crop.

2. Introduced in 2002, GM cotton now dominates 95% of crop yield.

Two North Indian states are suffering the first major pest infestation since the country adapted to genetically modified cotton in 2002, raising concerns over the vulnerability of the lab-grown seeds that yield nearly all of the cotton. Extensive damage from the whitefly attack on the BT cotton variety in the states of Punjab and Haryana is likely to be the reason for farmer suicides and mass protest according to local officials and experts. India's overall crop losses are expected to be light, because the states are not major producing centres, but the pest attack is inflaming debate over the usage of GM crops. BT cotton was tweaked by scientists at seed supplying companies to produce its own insecticide to kill pests like bollworms. But two years of drought have encouraged the spread of whitefly against which the strain has no resistance. The winged pest damages the leaves of the cotton plant by sucking out fluid. The BT seeds cost more than other cotton strains and must be bought new each year by farmers. The companies that market the GM cotton say growers end up better off because they get higher yields and save money on pesticides, but some farmer groups are concerned about growing dependency on the new varieties. The farmers' union allied to ruling party is stepping up its opposition and wants BT cotton's use to be banned and is trying to block the introduction of crops like GM mustard - an oilseed - now in development. A team of scientists and government officials had visited Punjab and Haryana to help contain the pest attack and there had been no reports of outbreaks in other parts of the country, said an agriculture ministry official.

Dozen Suicides

The Punjab government has already earmarked 6.4 billion rupees (US$ 100 million) to compensate for crop damage and an official in Haryana's farm ministry said the state was also considering compensation. The infestation is unlikely to have a significant impact on the national output, but experts see serious local damage. National output could drop by 1.5 percent this year from the previous seasons' 37.7 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) according to Cotton Association of India. Cotton crop in India covers around 11-12 million hectares of land and nearly 95 percent of it is GM cotton. In Punjab, cotton covers about 450,000 hectares, with about 35 percent prone to the pest attack this year, said an official.