Press release - April 12, 2005
NEW DELHI, India — Recognizing the absence of any safety net for farmers growing Bt. cotton, Greenpeace today released Kisan Surakhsa Kawach an easy-to-use legal manual to help Bt. cotton farmers get legal protection from seed corporations selling genetically engineered (GE) seeds.
Say No to Genetic Engineering
“The Kisan Surakhsa Kawach is the final recourse for the farmer to safeguard
his/her economic interest when Bt. cotton fails to live up to it’s
exaggerated claims” said Divya Raghunandan, GE campaigner, Greenpeace. She
urged Members of Parliament, farmer unions and state governments to come
forward and demand to have the legal manual widely distributed akin to a statutory
warning with every packet of Bt. Cotton.
In
March 2005, Greenpeace exposed the government nexus with Monsanto Mahyco in
Warangal where farmers were cheated by over Rupees two crores in a compensation
package designed to bail them out of a universally acknowledged failed Bt.cotton
crop. Even as evidence from South India was under evaluation, Genetic
Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) succumbed to immense pressure from
Monsanto and approved 6 new Bt. cotton varieties for north India.
Such
strategies are not uncommon to Monsanto. The company has bribed government
officials in Indonesia, sued farmers for patent infringement in Canada, has
forced the government to crack down on poor farmers who saved seeds in
Argentina, contaminated indigenous corn in Mexico and other unscrupulous
tactics to gain access to agriculture markets. The company buys up local seed
companies to create a monopoly and uses
money power to influence and weaken regulatory systems.
“The Government has abdicated its role as
custodians of the interest of farmers in favour of Monsanto and the time has
come for farmers to protect themselves through self-help and recourse to the
law” said S.S. Vasudeva, Legal Counsel, Greenpeace India. “The recent Rs. one and a half lakh compensation awarded
to farmers in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh for their failed Monsanto’s Bt.
cotton crop is an example of how irresponsible companies can be made
accountable by farmers”.
For more information, please contact:
Divya Raghunandan, GE Campaigner, Greenpeace
India +91-9845535406 email: 
Vivek Sharma, Media Officer, Greenpeace India
+91-9343788424
email: 