INDIA GENETICALLY MODIFIED SEED FAILS, ADDING TO POOR FARMERS' BURDEN

DHUMNAGAR, India (UCAN) -- At least 500,000 farmers have been left in
the lurch in eastern India after the failure of a crop of genetically
modified maize.

The Bihar state government now plans legal action against the
distributors of the maize seeds produced by the U.S.-based company
Monsanto, while a Catholic bishop has cautioned people about the traps
of globalization.

Puranamashi Ram, Bihar's food minister, told UCA News March 26 that
farmers, mostly in the state's 20 northern districts, cultivated
Monsanto's "900 M" variety maize on 150,000 hectares of land.

"The plants have grown copiously and even borne large-sized corncob,
(but) to the shock of our farmers, they have no grains within them,"
he said.

Bishop Victor Henry Thakur of Bettiah describes the crop failure as "a
tip of the iceberg" with regard to the ruin that he says globalization
is wreaking on unsuspecting people. His diocese, based about 950
kilometers east of New Delhi, covers part of the area where the crop
failed.

While expressing solidarity with the affected farmers, the bishop told
UCA News that they should not discard indigenous seeds and knowledge.
People should know that transnational firms are interested only in
making money, and not helping the poor, he remarked.

Genetically modified organisms such as the 900 M maize have had their
original genetic makeup altered in an attempt to enhance or produce
desirable characteristics, such as increased yield or resistance to
disease.

Local people say distributors cheated farmers in selling them
"unapproved" seeds that they promised would yield three times what
local varieties produce.

The state commissioner for agriculture, Madan Mohan Singh, told UCA
News March 28 that the government directed officials to file criminal
cases against the suppliers of the Monsanto maize.

Nityanand Shukla, 47, a farmer in West Champaran district, said he
sowed the seed in November as a winter crop and by March corncobs
appeared as usual. He opened one corncob to check the size and quality
of the grains and found none in it. News of this spread and others too
found that their crop had failed.

Shukla said he had also cultivated indigenous maize on a hectare of
land and the plants "have developed well and carry good grains. But
this won't make up for the heavy loss I have incurred due to the
American seeds."

For each hectare of 900 M maize planted, farmers typically spent 3,600
rupees (US$76) for 60 kilograms of the imported seed. The government
estimates that some 8.2 million kilograms of the maize seed has been
sold in Bihar.

Shukla says people opted for the new seed to get rich. Indigenous
varieties yield on average 3,000 kilograms a hectare that could be
sold for 18,000 rupees (some US$380). But the new variety promised
9,000 kilograms a hectare.

Nesar Ahmad, president of Bihar state's Kisan Sangh (farmers union),
told UCA News that the farmers are planning protest rallies to seek
government intervention. The union leader, a Muslim, said at least
500,000 affected farmers own less than 0.3 hectare of land and are too
poor to file a case seeking compensation.

Jesuit Brother Thomas Mannaramattathil, director of a 20-hectare farm
owned by the Jesuits in Bettiah, said he did not use the hybrid maize
because he did not think the genetically modified seeds would suit the
local climate.

"They may give high yield sometimes, but indigenous seeds are cheap in
cultivation and better in quality and taste," he told UCA News. He
also said that while indigenous maize is a major food crop in the
state, the genetically modified maize is generally used as cattle feed
in some European countries.

Sachitanand Upadhayaya, a senior agricultural genetic scientist with
the state government, told UCA News examination of the corncobs and
some seeds revealed genetic deficiencies that hinder pollination.

Krishna Kumar Banka, regional dealer of the Monsanto seed in Bihar's
northern region, told UCA News that a monthlong cold spell in January
might have adversely affected the grain formation. He dismissed as
wild the allegations of genetic deficiencies in the seed, which he
said was marketed "only after thorough trials and tests."

Media reported Monsanto officials as saying that unfavorable weather
conditions also affected other hybrid crops in the region.

According to Upadhayaya, the cold wave did not affect indigenous
plants.

Torsten Brinch writes

"The plants have grown copiously and even borne large-sized corncob,
(but) to the shock of our farmers, they have no grains within them,"
he said.

Happens sometimes with wheat varieties, too.

--
Oz
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"Oz" wrote in message
...
Torsten Brinch writes

"The plants have grown copiously and even borne large-sized corncob,
(but) to the shock of our farmers, they have no grains within them,"
he said.

Happens sometimes with wheat varieties, too.

the joy of agriculture

Every so often a new variety bombs out and is never grown again. I can
remember one lot of court cases in the UK not so long ago, and then there
are varieties which are just quietly forgotten because they don't live up to
expectations

Jim Webster


--
Oz
This post is worth absolutely nothing and is probably fallacious.
Note: soon (maybe already) only posts via despammed.com will be accepted.

Jim Webster writes
"Oz" wrote in message
...
Torsten Brinch writes

"The plants have grown copiously and even borne large-sized corncob,
(but) to the shock of our farmers, they have no grains within them,"
he said.

Happens sometimes with wheat varieties, too.

the joy of agriculture

Every so often a new variety bombs out and is never grown again.

Not at all uncommon.

I can
remember one lot of court cases in the UK not so long ago,

Indeed, a wheat that didn't set seed due to rain during flowering (or
something like that). Just by chance it hadn't happened during the three
or four years of trials.

and then there
are varieties which are just quietly forgotten because they don't live up to
expectations

Yeah, tell me about it.

--
Oz
This post is worth absolutely nothing and is probably fallacious.
Note: soon (maybe already) only posts via despammed.com will be accepted.

"Oz" wrote in message
...
Jim Webster writes
"Oz" wrote in message
...
Torsten Brinch writes

"The plants have grown copiously and even borne large-sized corncob,
(but) to the shock of our farmers, they have no grains within them,"
he said.

Happens sometimes with wheat varieties, too.

the joy of agriculture

Every so often a new variety bombs out and is never grown again.

Not at all uncommon.

I can
remember one lot of court cases in the UK not so long ago,

Indeed, a wheat that didn't set seed due to rain during flowering (or
something like that). Just by chance it hadn't happened during the three
or four years of trials.

and then there
are varieties which are just quietly forgotten because they don't live up
to
expectations

Yeah, tell me about it.

what does amuse me, in a darkly ironic way, is a lot of people are getting
all excited about an Indian crop failure who never gave a tuppenny damn
about india, crops or weather before GM. I wonder how many of them ever
bothered posting when a conventional Indian crop fails?

Jim Webster

--
Oz
This post is worth absolutely nothing and is probably fallacious.
Note: soon (maybe already) only posts via despammed.com will be accepted.

a lot of people are getting
all excited about an Indian crop failure who never gave a tuppenny damn
about india, crops or weather before GM

Perhaps because of all the hype about how these GM crops are supposed
to give higher yields, use less herbicide/pesticide, make more money,
feed the world, etc...

What's clear is that this is simply marketing hype by desperate
agrochemical companies who want to sell substandard, expensive,
patented seeds to poor farmers...

regards
Marcus

Jim Webster writes

what does amuse me, in a darkly ironic way, is a lot of people are getting
all excited about an Indian crop failure who never gave a tuppenny damn
about india, crops or weather before GM. I wonder how many of them ever
bothered posting when a conventional Indian crop fails?

Hang on a tick though.

Last season they had unusual extensive droughting because the monsoons
didn't reach west. There was extensive crop failure to the extent that
it was on UK news. World grain prices even bumped up on the back of it.

Hmm, isn't one of the problems with maize that drought during flowering
kills pollination?

Mind you, claiming from the seed house is a nice trick if you can wangle
it.....

--
Oz
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Note: soon (maybe already) only posts via despammed.com will be accepted.

writes

What's clear is that this is simply marketing hype by desperate
agrochemical companies who want to sell substandard, expensive,
patented seeds to poor farmers...

Don't be a pratt.

If you ever met some of these farmers you would find them a darned sight
more sensible than you think. They may be ignorant, but they aren't
stupid.

Selling stuff to farmers is a heck of a problem, even when you can PROVE
it pays.

If you think it's easy there are plenty of commission jobs going begging
in the UK ag supply trade (and probably the US one as well).

--
Oz
This post is worth absolutely nothing and is probably fallacious.
Note: soon (maybe already) only posts via despammed.com will be accepted.

wrote in message
...

a lot of people are getting
all excited about an Indian crop failure who never gave a tuppenny damn
about india, crops or weather before GM

Perhaps because of all the hype about how these GM crops are supposed
to give higher yields, use less herbicide/pesticide, make more money,
feed the world, etc...


just like every other new seed variety that comes onto the market.
From the farm point of view there is no more hype over GM than there is over
non-GM varieties. All the seed companies are out there pushing their wares
and trying to get you to buy there stuff, GM is just another option and no
farmer is likely to unthinkingly believe their claims than he is of any
other firms claims.

What's clear is that this is simply marketing hype by desperate
agrochemical companies who want to sell substandard, expensive,
patented seeds to poor farmers...

grow up, do you think Indian farmers are so utterly stupid or naive that
they believe everything a major multination says? How patronising can you
get! just because they are not white or wealthy doesn't mean they are
stupid.
Let us look at this bluntly.
When was the first time you posted to this group? Was it to discuss indian
crop failures back in the late 1990s. No it wasn't
You don't actually give a damn about these people, you are so tied up with
the bee in your bonnet about GMs that you see everything through that
particular glass

Jim Webster


regards
Marcus

"Oz" wrote in message
...
Jim Webster writes

what does amuse me, in a darkly ironic way, is a lot of people are
getting
all excited about an Indian crop failure who never gave a tuppenny damn
about india, crops or weather before GM. I wonder how many of them ever
bothered posting when a conventional Indian crop fails?

Hang on a tick though.

Last season they had unusual extensive droughting because the monsoons
didn't reach west. There was extensive crop failure to the extent that
it was on UK news.

cannot have happened otherwise Marcus, with his eagle eye on Indian peasant
farming conditions would have told us all about it

World grain prices even bumped up on the back of it.

Hmm, isn't one of the problems with maize that drought during flowering
kills pollination?

Mind you, claiming from the seed house is a nice trick if you can wangle
it.....

too right.
Not only that but it is soo easy to kick up a fuss, get it run in all the
worlds media so the company will pay you to shut up. They are no fools them
lads

Jim Webster

--
Oz
This post is worth absolutely nothing and is probably fallacious.
Note: soon (maybe already) only posts via despammed.com will be accepted.

On Sat, 19 Apr 2003 19:23:01 +0100, Oz
wrote:

Hmm, isn't one of the problems with maize that drought during flowering
kills pollination?

I seem to recall that each day of moisture stress around the time of
anthesis causes a 7% drop in yield for maize. So a week's adverse
weather around the time of flowering will cut yeilds about in half.

Charles Hawtrey writes
On Sat, 19 Apr 2003 19:23:01 +0100, Oz
wrote:

Hmm, isn't one of the problems with maize that drought during flowering
kills pollination?

I seem to recall that each day of moisture stress around the time of
anthesis causes a 7% drop in yield for maize. So a week's adverse
weather around the time of flowering will cut yeilds about in half.

I think most of india had a tad more than 7 days of drought.

Sheesh, WE have had more than 7 days this year, and counting ....

--
Oz
This post is worth absolutely nothing and is probably fallacious.
Note: soon (maybe already) only posts via despammed.com will be accepted.

"Jim Webster" wrote in message
...

"Oz" wrote in message
...
Jim Webster writes

what does amuse me, in a darkly ironic way, is a lot of people are
getting
all excited about an Indian crop failure who never gave a tuppenny damn
about india, crops or weather before GM. I wonder how many of them ever
bothered posting when a conventional Indian crop fails?

Hang on a tick though.

Last season they had unusual extensive droughting because the monsoons
didn't reach west. There was extensive crop failure to the extent that
it was on UK news.

cannot have happened otherwise Marcus, with his eagle eye on Indian
peasant
farming conditions would have told us all about it

World grain prices even bumped up on the back of it.

Hmm, isn't one of the problems with maize that drought during flowering
kills pollination?

Mind you, claiming from the seed house is a nice trick if you can wangle
it.....

too right.
Not only that but it is soo easy to kick up a fuss, get it run in all the
worlds media so the company will pay you to shut up. They are no fools
them
lads

I have a good deal more experience with dry weather than you do on that side
of the pond. When you are moisture limited it is very difficult to evaluate
anything on a single years result. The moisture stored in the soil, the time
of planting in relation to when it rains later in the year and a stray
thunder storm can make a great deal of difference.

Cotton in particular is very sensitive to planting date in dry conditions.
Several winters I worked at the cotton gin and when the farmer got his crop
ginned we would figure what it made and what day it was planted. There was
nearly always one day that was the best day to plant. Yields would increase
slowly approaching that day and then fall of rapidly. The trick was to make
it to the first August rains. The risk of waiting that late plant was there
was no chance to replant if you lost a stand. Every year I would end up
planting some very late for some one and it would generally be the best
cotton I planted.

Corn responds worse to hot dry weather than cotton. Cotton will close the
opening in its leaves and wilt in the hottest part of the day if it get
short on moisture and it does the same at night both to conserve moisture. I
would start irrigating when the cotton started to wilt at 2:00 pm. Corn has
no such moisture monument mechanism it just sucks it up until it is gone and
quits and has shallow roots so it can't reach subsoil moisture that cotton
can. If corn ran out of moisture when it was tasseling it would not make
much if any seed. I expect that heavy continuous rain during pollination
would also cause a nice plump ear and no seed.

In the 50's we had a variety of wheat that really looked good. The three
years before it was released it did well all over the state and it did real
well for 4 years and the 5th year it failed all over the state but the
Panhandle which is a lot higher and cooler. They still grow it out there.

GM crops are local varieties that have had the trait introduced. They are
not new varieties of crops. Nobody takes that kind of risk.

Gordon

On Sun, 20 Apr 2003 05:26:05 -0500, "Gordon Couger"
wrote:

Corn responds worse to hot dry weather than cotton. Cotton will close the
opening in its leaves and wilt in the hottest part of the day if it get
short on moisture and it does the same at night both to conserve moisture. I
would start irrigating when the cotton started to wilt at 2:00 pm. Corn has
no such moisture monument mechanism it just sucks it up until it is gone and
quits and has shallow roots so it can't reach subsoil moisture that cotton
can. If corn ran out of moisture when it was tasseling it would not make
much if any seed. I expect that heavy continuous rain during pollination
would also cause a nice plump ear and no seed.

There's an update to the initial report, a bit more information.
That serious yield losses have occurred, and that the variety
implicated is not GM, would seem clear.


Bihar Bans Monsanto from Selling Seeds
By*Imran Khan
Indo-Asian News Service
April 15, 2003

Monsanto India Ltd, a subsidiary of the US multinational, has been
barred from selling seeds in Bihar for allegedly marketing substandard
products. The action came after farmers complained that Monsanto's
Cargill hybrid 900M maize seeds were substandard or contaminated as
they failed to germinate and much of the winter crop failed,
Agriculture Minister Shivshankar Yadav said.

Monsanto is believed to have sold 700 tonnes of seeds for the winter
crop, promising farmers yields of 80 to 85 quintals per acre. The
actual yield was not even 10 percent of this, according to figures
available with the government.

Bihar has 180,000 acres under maize. Monsanto seeds were planted over
140,000 hectares. The company has been asked to explain its conduct.
Experts from the Rajendra Agriculture University (RAU) would study its
reply before the government decides on cancelling the company's
licence to operate in the state, Yadav added. Monsanto officials
contend the poor yields were due to the unexpected cold weather
earlier this year that had affected all hybrids across much of Bihar
as well as nearby regions.

They pointed out that seed trials during the summer crop of 1996, 1997
and 1998 had produced adequate yields, after which they had been
recommended to the central seed committee for notification in 1999.
Sources in the Bihar government said it was under tremendous pressure
to cancel Monsanto's licence because thousands of farmers were
demanding compensation after being reduced to penury following the
failure of the winter crop. While the loss has not been quantified,
B.N. Jha, a specialist with the Agriculture Technology Management
Agency, said it would run into millions of rupees.

"Farmers sowed Cargil seeds over hundreds of acres in Muzaffarpur
district but the low output has devastated us. We had not faced such a
problem earlier," said an upset Aawadesh Singh, a farmer of Meenapur
village in the district. His tale is similar to that of hundreds of
farmers in over a dozen districts of north Bihar including Samastipur,
Darbhanga, Madhubani and West and East Champaran. Monsanto has said it
would send its teams to the affected districts to study the situation
on the ground.

"Torsten Brinch" wrote in message
...
..

They pointed out that seed trials during the summer crop of 1996, 1997
and 1998 had produced adequate yields, after which they had been
recommended to the central seed committee for notification in 1999.

yep, looks pretty much as we said, does OK in trials and then a bad year
comes along

Jim Webster