Genetically Modified Bt Cotton in India and its relationship
Based on "Bt Cotton and Farmer Suicides in India: An Evidence-based Assessment" a paper by Guillaume Grue` re & Deddatta Sengupt
Genetically Modified Bt Cotton in India and its relationship to the increased suicide rates of cotton farmers.
Districts with poor abiotic factors have higher farmer suicide rates
Gruere's paper shows that in Andhra Pradesh with poor rainfall during the 2002/03 and 2004/05- suicides increased, however so did cotton adoption.
About Bt Cotton in India
So what is Bt Cotton?
Bt Cotton is a Genetically Modified crop that allows the plant to develop its own pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis to protect against cotton bollworms. The crop is a transgenic type of genetic modification which involves isolating strains of bacteria DNA to insert into the plant's DNA and allowing it to breed a new plant with the ability to resist pests.
This leads us to think that the suicides may not be directly linked to the use
of Bt Cotton as adoption by farmers was increasing. Could there be a confluence of factors that cause crop failure not just the new technology?
In 2002 India introduced its very first strain of Bt Cotton and by 2007, 6.2 million hectares of land were taken up by Bt Cotton growth- demonstrating its commercial success.
The crop itself produced a higher yield in the years following plantation. However there were anomalies. Some farmers did not manage to get the Bt Cotton plant to yield and they were left with their families in debt, shamed and hungry.
Factors surrounding Yield
Crop yields seemed to be bolstered by the genetic enhancements, however yield size is dependent on many factors, such as; irrigation, sunlight, soil salinity and pH.
In states such as Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, the yields did not reflect the jubilation of farmers elsewhere in India. Due to the fact in 2004 and 2006 the rainfall was low and not sufficient enough for cotton to grow efficiently.
Climatic and socioeconomic issues cause crop failure
Bt Cotton slowing suicide rates
Conclusion
In the article evidence is provided that Bt Cotton actually slowed the rates of suicide overall in India.
Adoption of Bt Cotton increased and yields were higher for most farmers.
These maps show
Maharashtra and
Andhra Pradesh
to both be more
arid than other
states.
Furthermore,
they are both some
of the poorest areas
of India, where new
improved forms of
(Anon. ,2014)
In conclusion, the paper argues that Bt Cotton is not the cause of increases in suicides, Gruere and Sengupta prove that suicides have not increased in average numbers since Bt Cotton was introduced, although some years have had more recorded deaths than others. However this could also be due to the changing climatic patterns that India sees each year with its monsoon season. Furthermore socioeconomic stability features massively with deprived agriculture, illiteracy features heavily in rural India and farmers must rely on corporate help such as that from the Monsanto Company.
"Bt cotton, an expensive technology that has been poorly explained, often misused and initially available in only a few varieties, might have played a role in the overall indebtedness of certain farmers in some of the suicide... particularly in its initial years. But none of these possible links has been explicitly demonstrated with a sufficiently robust analysis." (Sengupt, 2011)
the Bt Cotton seed could not be afforded and therefore farmers were left with poor crop yield year on year when they could not afford new seed. Other farmers may have used loans to cover this cost only to find the crop failed as a result to poor abiotic conditions and they could not afford to then repay the loan.
References:
Anon., 2014. Maps of India. [Online]
Available at: http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/india/annualtemperature.htm
[Accessed 26 January 2016].
Sengupta, G. G. &. D., 2011. Bt Cotton and Farmer Suicides in India: An Evidence-based Assessment. The Journal of Development Studies, 42(2), pp. 316-337.
Genetic Engineering [Diagram of Gene Modification] (2013). Retrieved January 25th, 2016, from http://oregonstate.edu/orb/terms/genetic-engineering