Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Non-Bt cotton brought more profits, Bt cotton disease!

Non-Bt cotton brought more

profits, Bt cotton disease!


Not only low yield but also loss, death, disease and misery along with it! Their sheep and buffaloes died after being fed dry Bt cotton stalks. Farmers faced health problems like skin allergies after Bt cotton cultivation.

This came to light after study of Bt cotton cultivation and its effects in three districts of Andhra Pradesh.


But it was not the case with the farmers who are cultivating with non Bt seeds. They earned 10 per cent more net profits compared to Bt farmers .

This study was conducted by Deccan Development Society (DDS) and Andhra Pradesh Coalition in Defence of Diversity (APCDD).

DDS President and APCDD Convenor P V Satheesh announced this in the press conference held at Hyderabad recently.

The study found that Bt farmers suffered 10 per cent returns in comparison to the non-Bt farmers practising Non Pesticidal Methods (NPM), he said.

Bt farmers had to invest 18 per cent more on pest management than the NPM farmers, contrary to the Bt industry promise that it would reduce the cost of pesticide use. The Bt farmers had to invest 9 per cent more for cultivating Cotton as agaisnt the NPM farmers.

The Bt farmers earned Rs 6,382 per acre in 2007-08 while the non-Bt peasants have earned Rs 7,046, Mr Satheesh said.

Bt farmers earned just 5 per cent more higher yields inspite of spending 9 per cent more on total investments, He added.

He said the study was conducted in Nalgonda, Warangal and Adilabad districts for the last five years where Bt Cotton cultivation was introduced in 1999.

He demanded that the state government must conduct an independent study on the impact of Bt cotton cultivation on the farmers' livelihood.

The impact of Bt cotton cultivation was only confined to low yield. Sheep and buffaloes died after being fed dry Bt cotton stalks. The farmers were also facing health problems like skin allergies, Satheesh said.

When our government awake?

(Thanks for the info by Ganadhalu Srikanta)

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