Monsanto is one of the largest producers of genetically modified seeds in the world. India, the second most populous country in the world and constantly plagued by hunger, is an obviously attractive market. Match made in heaven? Not exactly. Monsanto targeted its patented BT Cotton seeds (genetically modified to resist pests and disease and including a terminator gene that requires yearly purchase of new seed) to the poverty-stricken illiterate rural farmers of India. Heavy ad campaigns convinced the farmers to take out loans at extortionate rates to pay for the seeds, which cost 1000 times more than conventional varieties.
The first problem occurred when pests and disease destroyed much of the crop that was guaranteed to be pest-and-disease resistant. “No matter,” said Monsanto, “our BT 2 seeds will be much better! Please buy some now!” The second problem occurred when the crops failed because of lack of irrigation. It seems that Monsanto neglected to mention that their seeds required up to 50 TIMES the water of natural varieties, and on a rigid schedule. This was an insurmountable problem for rural farmers without artificial irrigation systems who depend on rain to irrigate their crops.
Thankfully, Monsanto was able to weather the massive crop losses. The Indian farmers were not so lucky. Faced with the loss of everything they had, and looking at families condemned to a life of begging with no way out, a wave of suicides has been sweeping through the Indian farm belt.
The predominant method of choice? The same insecticide that proved so useless on the Monsanto cotton.
Copy of article from Hindustantimes (Includes graph of suicide rates) Pradip Kumar Maltra
The GM genocide: Thousands of Indian farmers are committing suicide after using genetically modified crops Andrew Malone, Nov 2008, DailyMail.UK
Seeds of Suicide- India’s Desperate Farmers, Frontline report, video, July 26,2005
The Farmer Suicide Belt of India (Includes Video) May 8, 2009 at 06:25 am, NowPublic
Blog from Kishor Tiwari, GM Suicide Activist/Advocate
250,000 farmers have committed suicide and chemical-intensive methods have devastated the land Now India’s poorest women are growing a quiet revolution: Seeds of hope, 15 May 2011, Herald Scotland
Bhumi Vardaan Foundation, Founded by Prince Charles to help small farmers convert to organic produce by providing training facilities and marketing support in India and overseas.
Farmer suicide belt makes a killing (Includes Video) Updated Jun 10, 2007 at 01:14pm IST; Piyush Pushpak, CNN-IBN
