Make Bt Brinjal consultation more representative

KVM demands : Make Bt Brinjal consultation more representative and ensure opportunity for diverse groups

On the 29th of January, 2010, the Minister for Forests and Environment, Jairam Ramesh held a public consultation in Chandigarh on the proposed commerical release of genetically modified (GM) brinjal While seven such consultations are being held throughout the nation, the Chandigarh consultation was intended to represent the views of eight states – Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir – representing approximately half of the agricultural population of India. Umendra Dutt, Executive Director of Kheti Virasat Mission, felt that the consultation process was fraught with problems, and inadequate for representing the views of such a diverse group of farmers from different geo-climatic and diverse biodiversity regions.

The consultation process was not scientific and completely inappropriate to the task. While claiming to represent the diversity of farmers in eight states, the farmers in the pro-GM lobby consisted almost entirely of farmers from Haryana, under the leadership of Bhupinder Singh Mann, from the Bharatiya Kisan Union. While the consultation was initially arranged to begin at 1 p.m., these farmers had arrived together before 9 a.m. and occupied most of the seats. There was no mechanism to prevent this kind of organised mob behaviour.

“The farmers in opposition to Bt brinjal came from distant places, including Chamba and Palampur in Himachal, several districts of Punjab and Rewari in Haryana. They came on their own and by their own initiative, many by bus, so that they could speak out. There was no powerful corporate lobby to support them, financially. Unfortunately, many of these farmers did not arrive until after 11 a.m., when the Minister decided to start the consultation process, despite the advertised time being 1 p.m. He did this after already having pre-poned the consultation by one day, which had proved very disruptive to many people travelling interstate, who had already made their travel plans accordingly."

“The very premise that half of the farming population of India could be represented in one consultation is plain ridiculous. It is worth noting that not a single farmer from Uttarakhand or Jammu and Kashmir spoke at the consultation, and one of the only farmers from Himachal Pradesh who spoke was heckled by the pro-GM lobby and unable to make his point. The content of the discussion also did not recognise the special issues faced by the people in these states. Their topography, ecology, soil structure and agricultural patterns are entirely different to Punjab and Haryana, yet the discussion focused entirely on issues relevant to the latter, such as the impact of Bt cotton, a technology only used in Punjab, Haryana and some parts of Rajasthan.”

Himalayan states: Tomography, ecology, soil structure, agriculture pattern, cropping system are entirely different. Whereas consultation almost highjacked by BSM group from Haryana. What they say cannot be applied to the Himalayan states. Entire discussion was centred around experience of Bt-cotton. Bt Cotton is cultivated in Punjab, Haryana and few areas of Rajasthan only Himalayan states has nothing to do with Bt Cotton or its sucess. . Himaliyan states has different agro-ecologiucal system, their cropping system has no similarity with that of Punjab and Haryana, Farmers from these states owns very small land holdings, their preceptions and vision is quite different from the farmers from other statres . So, this consultation does not gave appropriate oppoutunity to farmers Himalayan states to raise their issues and concerns. Therefore, minister should have organised a different consultation for them.

Moreover, The states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have declared themselves organic. They also grow tomato and potato, which, as part of the brinjal family, are vulnerable to contamination by Bt brinjal. If their crops are contaminated by a GM variety, then the export potential of these two organic states will be completely devastated, as GM foods are not recognised as organic by international standards. One important revelation of the consultation was that their are no more takers of pesticides and agro-chemicals anymore. Farmers from both sides , those who are opposing Bt Brinjal and those who were asking for release of Bt Brinjal were extremely critical of the impacts of pesticides on their health. The Agriculture establishments particularly PAU and Punjab Government should learn an important lesson from this. Farmers no longer want the killer pesticides. Perhaps it is time to embrace sustainable ecological agriculture for the future of Punjab’s agriculture.

ENDS

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