25% area under banned cotton: Farmers : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

25% area under banned cotton: Farmers

MUMBAI:Nearly 25 per cent of the cotton crop being sown by farmers in Maharashtra this season is from the banned herbicide tolerant bio-technology (HTBt) variety, claim activists of farmers’ body Shetkari Sanghatana.



Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, July 7

Nearly 25 per cent of the cotton crop being sown by farmers in Maharashtra this season is from the banned herbicide tolerant bio-technology (HTBt) variety, claim activists of farmers’ body Shetkari Sanghatana.

According to the Sanghatana, the crackdown by the Maharashtra Government on its members who planted the banned variety last month as part of a farmers’ satyagraha has only sparked off more interest in the HTBt variety of cotton.  “Seeds of the HTBt variety of cotton are available in all major markets and farmers are buying these in large numbers,” says Anil Ghanwat, president, Shetkari Sanghatana.

He estimated that at least 25-30 per cent of the acreage under cotton this season would be of the HTBt variety.

According to the Sanghatana, seeds of the banned variety of cotton are being openly sold in markets in all major cotton-growing districts of Maharashtra.

Last month, several members of the Sanghatana planted the banned variety of cotton at a farm in Akola district. State officials arrested several farmers for possessing the banned seeds and filed cases against them. However, undaunted by the police action, farmers are planting these seeds. Reports say some of them have admitted to violating the ban on social media. The Sanghatana said it would be providing legal assistance to those arrested for violating the ban on cultivation of BT cotton.

The ‘GM Satyagraha’ has drawn opposition from environmental groups and the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh. The BKS accused international seed companies of mobilising the seed companies to carry out illegalities and called for a stricter crackdown. “They mobilise some farmers through their illegal fraudulent means and cultivating these illegal seeds challenging the legal agencies openly,” Badri Narayan Chaudhary, All India General Secretary, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh said in a statement.

Top News

Arvind Kejriwal to be produced before Delhi court today as 6-day ED custody ends

Excise policy case: Delhi court extends ED custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 1

In his submissions, Kejriwal said, ‘I am named by 4 witnesse...

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

The bench refuses to comment on merits of the issue, saying ...

‘Unwarranted, unacceptable’: India on US remarks on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest

‘Unwarranted, unacceptable’: India on US remarks on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest

MEA spokesperson says India is proud of its independent and ...

Bullying Congress culture, no wonder being rejected: PM Modi, backs senior lawyers who flagged attempts to undermine public trust in judiciary

Bullying Congress culture, no wonder being rejected: PM Modi

Backs senior lawyers who flagged attempts to undermine publi...

Gujarat court sentences former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to 20 years in jail in 1996 drug case

Gujarat court sentences former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to 20 years in jail in 1996 drug case

Bhatt, who was sacked from the force in 2015, is already beh...


Cities

View All