The lie about GM is that it will help the poorer countries. Yet even
they don't want it!
http://tinyurl.com/6zx4qz
Farmers protest over genetically modified crops in Delhi
May 6th, 2008 - 9:27 pm ICT by admin - Email This Post
New Delhi, May 6 (ANI): Farmers from different parts of the country on
Tuesday demonstrated at the Jantar Mantar on Parliament street over
the use of genetically modified crops in the country.
Organised by Coalition for a GM-free India, the protesting farmers
demanded that the genetically modified technology should be banned in
the country, as it was against the Indian farmers interest.
Protestors said that with the spread of genetically modified (GM)
crops, farmers rights could be seized in the name of the Intellectual
Property Rights and patents.
“This technology is against the interests of the peasants of the
country. Farmers rights would be snatched from them in the name of the
IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) and patent rights. Moreover, this
technology causes adverse impact on the health and environment.
Therefore, this technology should not be practiced in the country,”
said Kavitha Kuruganti of Coalition for a GM-free India.
The protestors included leaders of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU).
“Bt (Cotton) is poison and this has been spreading fast in our farms.
People till recently used manures and other methods for a good harvest
and led a healthy life. Bt brinjal is the first GM (genetically
modified) food crop, which will be approved for a second and final
season trial before commercialization,” said Ram Singh Solanki, a
leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU).
As per the Cotton Advisory Board, India’s GM cotton area is estimated
at 6.33 million hectares or 66 per cent of the total cotton area in
2007- 08 that is up from 3.69 million hectares in 2006-07.
The government of India allowed commercial cultivation of Bacillus
Thuringiensis or Bt cotton, the country’s first GM crop in 2002. (ANI)
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