By Alok Deshpande – The Hindu, 15 December 2016
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced that it would not allow multinational seed giant Monsanto to develop cotton seed varieties in the State henceforth. Instead, four agricultural universities and the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) will do the work.
State Agriculture Minister Pandurang Fundkar, while replying to a calling attention motion raised by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Amarsinh Pandit, said the decision was taken after it was revealed that enlisting the company’s assistance had been financially disastrous for farmers.
According to the data presented by Mr. Fundkar, Maharashtra has over 38 lakh hectare of land under cotton, 98 per cent of which has been under Bt Cotton since 2002. As per the Maharashtra Cotton Seeds Act, 2009, the State government periodically controls seed prices. On June 8, 2015, a notification was issued where packets of BgI type were priced at Rs. 730 and BgII at Rs. 830.
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NEWS TAG: BT COTTON
#MonsantoQuitIndia @RadhamohanBJP to start investigation on #Monsanto after receiving @drvandanashiva letter from MP @HariBabuBJP pic.twitter.com/H0vGq2jEtq
— Navdanya (@NavdanyaBija) December 15, 2016
#MonsantoKickedOut#MonsantoQuitIndia#GMOFreeVidarbha #NoMoreFarmersSuivide @NavdanyaBija spreads #seedsOfHope https://t.co/jgoPMbsART
— Dr. Vandana Shiva (@drvandanashiva) December 15, 2016
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sheeka says:
January 28, 2017 at 9:45 am -
thanks for this initiative please don’t allow any GMO production in India will greatly affect our ancient organic food as well as our poor farmers.