Going in for Bt cotton is a fad: a study by US expert

VV Balakrishna
First published on Feb 2, 2007
Farmers in the state are going for Bt ctoon lured by advertisements and marketing strategies of the seed producing companies and bringing onthemselves environmental and economic crisis, says an extensive studymade in Warangal district by Glenn Davis Stone of Washington Universityduring 2003-05.Stone is a professor of Anthropology and Environmental Studies atWashington University (St Louis). His findings were published in an article titled ``Agriculture De-skilling and the Spread of GeneticallyModified Cotton in Warangal,'' in the February issue of the reputedjournal ``Current Anthropology''.In the article, Stone observers that Warangal district is a key cotton-growing area in one of the most closely watchedarenas of the global struggle over genetically modified crops. In 2005 farmers adopted India's first genetically modified crop, Bt cotton, in numbersthat resembled a fad. Various parties, including the bio-technology, interpret the spread as result of farmers' experimentation and management skills, alluding to orthodox innovation-dillusion theory. However, a multi-year ethnography of Warangal cotton farmers shows a striking pattern of localilsed, ephemeral cotton seed fad precedingthe spread of the genetically modified seeds. The Bt cotton fad is symptomatic of systemic disruption of the process of experimentationand develpment of management skills, according to Stone. In fact, Warangal cotton farming offers a case study in agriculturede-skilling, a process that differs fundamentally from the better-knownprocess of industrial de-skilling. In terms of cultural evolution theory, de-skilling is a vital link between enviromental and social learning, to propogate practices with little or no environmental basis. Stone's study reveals that genetically modified crops affect farmersin developing countries, argues Kavitha Kuruganti of Centre for Sustainable Agriculture. Stone termed the selection of Bt cotton seed by the farmers as a fad and lacking any skill. This trend will erodethe knowledge base available with them and push them into environmentaland agro-economic crisis, she told Express. Cotton farmers in the state select seed varities depending on advertisements and are driven by marketing strategies rather than weighing whether a particular seed variety is suitable for a particularclimate and soil. Thus, farmers become vulnerable to losses, Kavithaadds. Stone's findings will be forwarded to Genetic Engineering ApprovalCommittee (GEAC), according to her.