Maharashtra farmers to opt Desi solution replace Bt. cotton

Maharashtra farmers to opt Desi solution  replace Bt. cotton  

 Dated -16 June 2016 

With the aim of giving more options to dry land vidarbha farmers and promoting organic farming replacing genetically modified crops and curbing uncontrolled use of pesticides in agriculture for protecting biodiversity through special action plan Maharashtra govt. and with help of Keshav Kranthi,director of  Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) , Dr.Pramod Yadgirwar ,director research ,PK agriculture university and  Navdanya of environmental activist  Vandana Shiva  planned project to give seeds  desi cotton varieties (mainly short duration and long staple or lint size) for cultivation along with with seeds of pluses and millet  to 100 tribal farmers of farmers suicide prone Yavatmal district is organised  on 18th June forest village  Awalgoan ,The seeds are of indigenous origin and would ensure better yields with less cost. There would be a seed bank and the seeds would be made available to the farmers in the open market at low cost," informed  Kishor Tiwari  Chairman of special task force Vasantrao Naik Sethi Swalamban Mission (VNSSM) today .

'This is part of Maharashtra govt. special drive to promote sustainable farming and last week too High-yielding indigenous seeds from dal group of tur, moong and soyabean worth Rs 13 lakh were distributed to farm widows free of cost here and as seeds are of indigenous origin and would ensure better yields with less cost later on there would be a seed bank and the seeds would be made available to the farmers in the open market at low cost" project convener and yavatmal district agriculture officer Dattatray Gaikwad said .

'as part of on going campaign to stop farmers suicides ,tribal who are worst hit victims of rain sensitive crop has come forward to  opt desi solution replace Bt.cotton ,we are also promoting  food crop cultivation including pulses, oil seeds and millet to curb mono crop  culture which has lost   biodiversity and resulted in frequent crop failure and drought forcing farmers to kill themselves.The seeds produced by the tribal would be collected by agriculture dept. and later the same would be sold in the local market so that they get good price " project director and divisional agriculture officer Rahul Satpute informed today. 

'The need for creating choice for the farmers also stems from the fact that cotton farming in India is on the crossroads. Last year there was lot of turbulence in north India among cotton growers about Bt cotton Boll-Guard-II (BG-II) hybrids, all of which suffered from damage due to white-fly attack and cotton leaf curl virus disease. In many cotton growing states in central and south India last season, Bt cotton was badly affected due to pink boll worm infestations as Monsanto's BG-II gave in to the pest.we are happy tribal are opting desi solution as our indigenous seeds are very resilient, all desi varieties are sturdy and robust. With added new qualities like short duration, long staple and compact plants these are also ideal for the High Density Plantation System (HDPS).  If we succeed, a new chemical-less and viable option will lead the way for India," jubilant Keshav Kranthi,director of  Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR)  added.

The seed distribution scheme would be implemented in 14 districts spread across Vidarbha and Marathwada shortly in a phased manner as a flagship programme of maharashtra govt,The prominent farm activist VNSSM chief Kishor Tiwari added .

"We want GMO-free and chemical-free India by 2020. We want governments and ordinary citizens to realise that the GM miracle and chemical miracle is false miracle. We have paid too higher prices and we will not pay that price because we have better systems and we will support VNSSM in this project ." environmental activist and founder of Navdanya, Vandana Shiva  said .