Dear all
I enclose a news published in the Pioneer for your perusal
Yours
SudhirMishra/Pioneer/Balangir
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I enclose a news published in the Pioneer for your perusal
Yours
SudhirMishra/Pioneer/Balangir
======================================================================
SUNDAY, 13 MAY 2012
23:23
SUDHIR MISHRA |
BALANGIR
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Even though the Government of Odisha has banned the cultivation of
Bt cotton, keeping in view its disastrous ecological consequences and high
input cost, reports of the banned seeds being taken up for cultivation in a
clandestine manner in many areas of the State are galore.
Besides, the inability of
dealers to supply hybrid cotton seeds this year has been a cause why the
farmers in increasing number are cosying up to Bt cotton across the State. In
the major cotton producing districts such as Balangir, Kalahandi and Rayagada,
among others, reportedly, a large patch of land goes to the banned cotton
farming.
Before the commencement
of the Kharif season every year, the meetings of the seed dealers are held in
each cotton-producing district wherein they confirm their readiness to supply
the required quantum of seeds to the cotton farmers. However, according to
reports, few seed dealers have turned up in the meetings already held in the
prime districts to say that they are going to supply the seeds. This makes it
pretty clear that in the absence of adequate hybrid seeds, the farmers would
fall back on the Bt cotton seeds.
“Before the commencement
of the cotton cultivation season, we convene a meeting of all seed dealers and
seed company representatives of approved hybrid variety cotton, where we tell
them to keep the seeds ready to be supplied to the farmers. This time, we
issued letters to the seed dealers and company representatives in April, but
except one company, the rest skipped, pointed out an agriculture official in
Balangir.
In an apparent bid to
facilitate the entry of BT cotton in Balangir district, only one hybrid cotton
seed dealer of the district turned up in the meeting held on April 19 last.
This is the case when the area under cotton cultivation in Balangir district
has been increasing over the years, especially after cotton farmers started
getting assured minimum support price, he confided.
According to official
sources, the area under cotton cultivation in the district is increasing
steadily from 19, 409 hectares in 2009-10 to 29, 240 hectares and further to
35, 330 hectares in 2011-12 against a target of 30,000 hectares. “This year the
target for cotton cultivation in Balangir is 34, 200 hectares. We require
around 85, 500 packets of cotton seeds for our district at a rate of one packet
per acre,” said Deputy Director of Agriculture Manoranjan Mallick.
In Kalhandi, the
situation is no better. According to reports, in Kalhandi this year, the seed
dealers meeting was also marked by thin attendance. Cotton cultivation has been
targeted to be taken up in 40,000 hectares of land in Kalahandi this year and
the seed requirement would be around 10, 000 packets.
The banned Bt cotton
cultivation in Odisha was first detected in Rayagada a few years a ago. In
2008, Kalahandi district administration seized truck loads of Bt cotton
seeds worth Rs 17lakh, confirming the fact that Bt cotton cultivation was going
on in the district by the farmers clandestinely.
According to agriculture
official sources, the traditional cotton crop is susceptible to pest attack and
the American ball worm affects it the most. The Bt cotton, which is a
genetically modified seed, releases a toxin which kills the American ball worm
when it attacks. As the crop becomes pest-free, its production increases.
But the agricultural
scientists said that after a few years, the American ball worm would develop
resistance to Bt cotton. Obviously, a higher doze of chemicals and pesticides
would be required to tackle it and it would create a bigger hole in the pocket
of the farmers and endanger the ecology, they said.
When contacted, Director
of Agriculture RS Gopalan admitted that adequate approved hybrid seeds are not
available since the private seed providers have not yet confirmed it. However,
he said the Government has been creating awareness among the farmers not to go
for the banned seed. “We are discouraging the farmers to take up Bt cotton
farming,” he said.
The Government lacks a
clear policy to ensure that prescribed seeds reach to the farmers in time and
in adequate quantity. Besides, the monopoly of some seed companies should also
end, said Jati Pradhan, a social activist.
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