Seizure of Bt Cotton Seed Consignment worth Rs 21 lakhs at Bhawanipatna.

To

The Hon'ble Chief Minister, Orissa,
Orissa Secretariat,
Sachivalaya Marg,
Bhubaneswar.


Dt: 16.06.08


Respected Sir,





Sub: Seizure of Bt Cotton Seed Consignment worth Rs 21 lakhs at Bhawanipatna.


Alerted by newspaper reports that appeared on 08.06.08 in different newspapers of Kalahandi district that a Bt Cotton seed consignment worth Rs. 21 lakhs had been seized by the office of the Dy. Director, Agriculture from the godown of a transport agency at Bhawanipatna, we immediately rushed to the spot to know the details of the seizure and gauge the aftermath.





Upon reaching Bhawanipatna on 10th June, we came to know that the consignment was sent from Kaveri Seeds Ltd, Cuttack. The Collector Sri Pramod Chandra Pattnaik, IAS, informed us that it was the largest seizure of Bt Cotton seeds in the State.. He was firm in his statement that the State Government would not allow the cultivation of Bt Cotton as serious adverse effects have been reported in other States. He had directed the District Agriculture Officer to conduct Krushak Samparka Mela's in all blocks of Bhawanipatna to warn farmers not to sow Bt Cotton in their fields.





We attended the Krushak Samparka Mela conducted at Karlapada Block of Bhawanipatna on the 10th of June. We met a number of farmers and listened to their feedback. The farmers were aggrieved that while the sowing of cotton would start from the 15th, the decision of the Agriculture Department to warn them on 10th of June was unfortunate. Many of them admitted, under the pledge of anonymity, that they had started Bt Cotton cultivation from 2007-08 and were ready to sow the same crop again. They were under the impression that certain companies from the neighbouring State of Andhra Pradesh would buy their entire produce. We feel that most of them would go ahead with their decision to cultivate Bt Cotton.





We met organic cotton cultivators who were worried that their crop would become contaminated and thus would be rejected by buyers especially in the export market.





The Collector has expressed helplessness if the farmers stuck to their decision and cultivate Bt Cotton. He said as per the existing Seeds Act he could only seize illegal and unlicensed seeds and could not go beyond that. Moreover he informed that there was no laboratory to test for the Bt gene in crop in the State. The samples of the crop would have to be sent to a laboratory at Nagpur.





The Deputy Director Agriculture too expressed the same sentiments and expressed his apprehension that large scale farmers' suicides would start in Orissa if Bt Cotton was not immediately checked. He hinted that a squad would be formed to raid all seed dealers in the block. All steps would be taken, he assured us. He called upon NGOs to assist the Government machinery in creating awareness about the dangers of Bt Cotton amongst farmers.





Our visit to the seed dealers at Bhawanipatna and Kesinga revealed that they were alarmed at the developments and were unwilling to divulge information. Seed dealers at Kesinga however acknowledged that they had sold Bt Cotton seeds to farmers last year.





Our field investigations have also revealed that there has been Bt Cotton cultivation in the Patnagarh subdivision Bolangir district also which is likely to intensify this year paricularly in the Khaprakhol Block.





We would therefore request your good self to kindly ensure that;





All districts where cotton cultivation is in vogue, notably Kalahandi, Nuapada, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Raygada, Bolangir, Nayagarh, Bargarh, Gajapati, Ganjam, Phulbani, Sonepur, Sundargarh, Dhenkanal and Nayagarh, should immediately be alerted.
All farmers who have started Bt Cotton cultivation since the last year should be identified so that they are dissuaded from continuing to cultivate the crop.
As in Bhawanipatna, Agriculture Departments should start awareness camps in all blocks of all cotton growing districts asking farmers to desist from cultivating Bt Cotton.
The standing Bt Cotton crop, if identified anywhere, should immediately be destroyed.
The source of the Bt Cotton seeds should be identified and the entire stock seized as per existing protocol.
The dealer network should also face similar action.
Dealers crossing the border to sell Bt Cotton seeds should be detained and questioned.
The State Biotechnology Coordination Committee should immediately hold a meeting and the situation reviewed.
It should be ensured that District Level Committees should be formed in all districts.
A laboratory to identify Bt Cotton crop should come up immediately in the State.
All illegal field trials on Genetically Modified crops should be stopped and the crop/samples destroyed. Kindly note that they have been going on in the State since 2002-03 without permission of the GEAC.
The State Government should come out with a clear public announcement about its stand on Bt Cotton and GM food crops.




As we have already appraised your good self about the various adverse impacts of Bt Cotton and GM crops, and as your office and also the Hon'ble Agriculture Minister have already denounced Bt Cotton in the floor of the Assembly on the 22nd of June'07, we hope you will fulfill our legitimate demands with all the urgency the situation merits so that the farmers of our State are spared the fate of farmers who have fallen a prey to the vagaries of Bt Cotton in the five other States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.






Respectfully yours,

Debjeet Sarangi & Jagannath Chatterjee,
Living Farms.



Cc: The Hon'ble Agriculture Minister, Orissa,
The Hon'ble Minister, Environment & Forest,
The Chief Secretary, Orissa,
The Agriculture Secretary,
The Director, Agriculture,
The Director, Department of Biotechnology, Orissa



"It is now 30 years since I have been confining myself to the treatment of chronic diseases. During those 30 years I have run against so many histories of little children who had never seen a sick day until they were vaccinated and who, in the several years that have followed, have never seen a well day since. I couldn't put my finger on the disease they have. They just weren't strong. Their resistance was gone. They were perfectly well before they were vaccinated. They have never been well since. "---Dr. William Howard Hay