In response to Hon’ble Union Agri Minister’s message to cotton farmers, asking for suggestions

———- Forwarded message ———
From: ASHA Kisan Swaraj<asha.kisanswaraj@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Jul 10, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Subject: In response to Hon’ble Union Agri Minister’s message to cotton farmers
To: <p.armorikar@nic.in>, <jdsocialmedia11@gmail.com>
Cc: <agrimin.india@gmail.com>

Dear Dr Prashant Armorikar,

This is in response to the message by Hon’ble Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan seeking suggestions on improvements in cotton production and productivity in India, and for improved farm incomes for cotton farmers. 

Sir, we believe that India made a great mistake by approving GM cotton for commercial cultivation in 2002. Much published literature corroborates what we are witnessing on the ground – yields have stagnated, agro-chemical usage both in the form of pesticides and synthetic fertilisers has increased, and importantly, de-facto patents exist on India’s cotton seed supply which is controlled by a foreign company. The very symbol of India’s independence struggle has become enslaved once again. The story of how India systematically de-notified many cotton varieties which provided space for GM cotton to spread, is in the public domain for all to know how biotech lobbies had worked to promote space for GM cotton, leaving very little choices to farmers. State governments (and not the biotech seed industry) had shelled out crores and crores of rupees as compensation to cotton farmers who have repeatedly incurred losses in the past 20-odd years. This is taxpayers’ money that had gone to prop up an unneeded, failed technology. Cotton farmers’ suicides continue unabated in several states despite much-hyped promises around Bt cotton – indebtedness of cotton farmers is on the rise. The best yield increases in India’s cotton history to this day are from those years when Bt cotton adoption was very low, from 2002 to 2007. Our cotton diversity got decimated on the ground, with resilience of such cotton farmers wiped out. Meanwhile, illegal HT cotton has spread and is causing numerous additional problems too. The Supreme Court’s independent and unanimous TEC (Technical Expert Committee) report found negative impact on rats and cows of Bt cotton, when it re-analysed biosafety dossiers that were cleared as being safe. Meanwhile, Bt cotton seed oil has been illegally sold to consumers and has been entering food supply chain of Indians. Regulators had failed squarely to protect citizens’ interest throughout the past 3 decades. 

In this scenario, thousands of cotton farmers, wherever they were able to mobilise required resources for the same, turned to desi cotton production, that too in non-chemical ways with intercropping along with food crops. These islands of well-being and profitability exist in Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. New social enterprises have emerged of ethical and environmentally-responsible textile value chains based on Indian cotton species, hand-spun and hand-woven as well as naturally dyed. It is these experiences that show a beacon of hope for the future, where farmer profitability meets with environmental sustainability, consumer protection and seed sovereignty.

Against this background, we urge the Government of India to focus on the following, even as the country phases out GM cotton gradually:

1. Invest on intense research for selecting good seed varieties of Indian cotton species and good non-chemical, diversity-based agronomic practices to go with the same. Such research need not begin in labs and agri-research stations alone, but can begin with practitioners.

2. Invest on public sector seed supply systems that actually supply such seed varieties to farmers, with good extension support to accompany the promotion of these varieties. Civil society can be involved in such extension, so that farmer-to-farmer extension is possible.

3. Improve the opportunities available and investments required for organic/natural farming of such cotton, so that even export opportunities open up for our producer collectives. Some state governments are providing cultivation incentives for desi cotton production, for instance. We need both cultivation and price incentives to be provided for desi cotton, and further support for segregated marketing of organic desi cotton.

4. Regulate GM cotton especially HT cotton rigorously by taking action on the entire illegal seed supply chain, and place a ban on glyphosate immediately. 

Sincerely,

Kavitha Kuruganti

National Co-Convenor

Ph: 8880067772

Copy to: Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India.

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Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA-Kisan Swaraj)
FOOD – FARMERS – FREEDOM
www.kisanswaraj.in
www.indiaforsafefood.in