A parliamentary panel has called for an in-depth probe into theagriculture ministry's role in the government's decision to approve thecommercial release of Bt Cotton in the country in 2002.
According to the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture, thedepartment of agriculture has not discharged its mandated responsibility in aprofessional manner as far as the introduction of transgenic agricultural cropsin India are concerned.
"It has to be found out how Bt Cotton became priority when the avowed goalfor introduction of transgenics in agricultural crops was with a view to ensureand maintain food security," the committee said in a report.
"Bt Cotton is a cash crop which in no way would have contributed to thefood security of the country," it said.
India is now the largest cultivator of Bt Cotton, jumping from 400,000 hectaresto 12,600,000 hectares now after it was approved for commercial cultivation in2002 by the regulator, genetic engineering approval committee of the unionenvironment ministry.
According to the report, lakhs of hectares got diverted to Bt Cotton cultivationbecause of misconception about its potential. And that reduced the area ofcultivation of several food crops, jeopardising the country's food security tothat extent.
The report said in 2002, when the Bt Cotton was allowed in India, thetechnology applied in hardly a few countries whose agricultural practices,farmers' profile and percentage of population dependent on the sector wastotally different from that of India.
Noting that 70 percent of India's population survives on agriculture and 70percent of Indian farmers are small and marginal, the report said theagriculture department did not take into account the differences in individualland holdings between farmers in India and those in the US and Canada.
The average farm size in India is 1.25 acres against hundreds of acres in theUS.
Similarly, the huge difference in farmers' incomes, levels of mechanisation andirrigation facilities were not properly analysed by the ministry, it said.
Another aspect where the ministry failed was the cost of seed and other inputsthat the introduction of transgenics entailed.
"The cost-benefit analysis was clearly in favour of the industry and notthe farmers," said the report.
It noted that the Bt Cotton seed was sold initially at Rs.2,200 a kg against afraction of the cost for the locally available seed.
Even now at Rs.1,500 per kg, it is high, said the report.
According to the report, though farmers in Gujarat, where availability of wateris better, benefited from Bt Cotton, the technology has contributed to theagrarian crisis in Vidharbha, Maharashtra.
Bt Cotton technology was meant for irrigated areas but was pushed in allcotton-growing states.
The report mentioned that traditional cotton varieties grown in Brazil hadthree times more yield than Bt Cotton grown in India.