Background:
Last night Vijay Jawandhiya, the leader of Farmers Movement in Vidarbha was in JNU for an informal interaction with students. He along with Hon. Proffessor of . Economcs Utsa Patnaik described various reasons behind current plight of the farmers and the policy of successive governments being responsible for it.
A to Z reasons of agriculture crisis listed by Utsa Patnaik and Vijay Javandhiya last night:
a) Food Procurement Policy
b) Import and Export Duty Structures
c) Farm Credit Policies
d) Availability of wage labour to farmers
e) Class and caste divisions in farmer’s struggle movement
f) When actually suicides started and why only after entry to WTO
g) Pricing Mechanism
h) Regional disparity
i) Bias towards non-irrigated farmers
j) Flawed norms of farmer’s debt relief package
k) High ignorance of leadership about international trade patterns and provisions in treaties
l) Reversal of social contract between farmers & government which was functional upto 1990
m) No lobbying, pressure group of farmers in national policy making institutions
n) Collapse of farmer’s leadership in national political framework
o) Much needed Government intervention to protect domestic production is lacking
p) No solidarity in farmer’s community about the issues of each other
q) Capital supply in agriculture is decreasing
r) Refusal to understand that the suicides are not 'only crisis' but 'symptom of larger crisis'
s) No educated youth want to move towards agriculture
t) Subsidies given in developed world damaging the competitiveness of our farm products
u) Agriculture is state subject but all the major decisions are taken by central governments
v) Despite enormous manpower, why industrialisation of farming by GM-Biotech happening
w) Farmers are selling lands and investing in less valuable, perishable commodities
x) Rich farmers are not building physical capital out of agriculture earning
y) Bias towards unorganised class of labour and farmers
z) Lack of informed decision making
Scene cuts here...
...12 hours later
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Challenges before Biotechnology and the world are increasing and so seem the opportunities. Amidst fierce resistance across the continents as well as volume of gradually increasing success stories, the debate about viability of biotechnology as an efficient alternative to contribute to the problems of the world is entering into meaningful interaction of University level.
The venue was School of Life Sciences in Jawaharlal Nehru University and the person speaking was Clive James, Chairman and Founder of ISAAA; a organisation claiming itself a not-for-profit organization delivering the benefits of new agricultural biotechnologies to the poor in developing countries.
In a desent way of engaging humour coupled with his assertive takes on oppositions to Biotechnology, James tried to project the development agenda dominated by Biotech experiements being done across the world. According to him, public interest in biotech arrives because of a) It`s potential to provide affordable food, feed and fibre; b) It`s strength to mitigate climate change & c) To ensure global food security and hunger reduction.
He was emphasising on the need to understand difference between 'contribution' and 'solution.' Explaining it a bit further, "We have to promote knowledge based decision making. But at the same time we should remember that person in front of us has every right to take their own decision. Here word 'contribution' differes from solution".
While submitting that, Biotech is not golden bullet but at the same time he asserted the advancements done due to biotechnology all over the world during last few years due to Biotech crops:
a) Food security has achieved by increase in production of 32 million tonnes
b) Biodiversity Conservation by saving forests to the tune of 10 million hectres
c) Alleviation of poverty by empowering life of 12.3 million farmers, 90% being marginal farmers
d) Mitigation of Cliamte Change, GHG & reduction of Environmental footprint by decreasing use of pesticides by 77,000 Metric Tonn
e) More effective biofuels- 12.2 miliion Hectres in US in 08
f) Sustainable economic benefits of $ 10 billion to developing and developing countries` farmers
He presented the voyage from entry of commercial biotech industries in past, linking towards achievement of Milleium Development Goals throgh the current growth across the world. Adoption around 1996, it`s impact in contemporary world leading towards future upto 2015.
It was mandatory for him to discuss the arguments which in principle responsible for opposition of Biotech.
1) Food Safety, Labeling and Tracebility of threats
2) Gene flow, conservation of Biodiversity and Coexistence
3) Effect of non-target organisms citing example of Monarch Butterfly
4) Management of BT resistance when durability is in question
5) Restricted access and control of GM technology
6) Role of private sector and issues of IPRs
7) Ethical Considerations
8) Impact of international Trade
Although he highlighted the grey areas, his obvious emphasis on achievements and progress of Biotech agriculture was insulated from any serious discussion in detail on the criticism of this techology. He tried to visualise the future opportunites in Rice crop because majority of worlds poor population are living on rice as a dietary habit. These new varities which will drought resistant, high quality in yield, speedy breeding, faster response to more severe and rapid change are undergoing research and development in colloboration of Monsoanto, The African Agriculture Technology Foundation (AATF), The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation etc.
"When the world is drowned in information and starving of knowledge", Jones persisted by saying that future needs to have continous e flow of new and improved biotech crops with informed political will and support. Expressing concern over the complacency to oppose biotech he said, "We are dealing with the world which is less literate in science."
PostScript: France banned genetically modified crops recently.
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