RSS wing writes to Minister on BT cotton

New Delhi, Feb 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) At a time when the Modi government has tried to project a pro-farmer image through the recent Union Budget, the RSS's economic wing has given a war cry against BT crop giant Monsanto.

The ideological mentor of the ruling BJP, the RSS shot off a letter to Minister of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare Narendra Tomar, arguing the 'trait value' charged from farmers for Bollgard-II, a variety of cotton plants, should be written off completely considering the patent for the plant in question has expired.

Trait value is something similar to a royalty charged from farmers.

Dr Ashwani Mahajan, the Co-convener of RSS's economic wing, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch which had started the debate against government signing a proposed trade deal called RCEP which was finally put into the back burner, argued that the BT crop giant Monsanto has already charged Rs 7000 crore from farmers.

"Monsanto company (now Bayer) had been charging exorbitant price of cotton seeds in the name of Bt 2 trait, exploiting our poor farmers and had collected more than Rs 7,000 crore from them, before Cotton Seeds Price (Control) Order 2015 came into being," he wrote.

He says the patent itself is questionable which was challenged at multiple forums, even that patent has allegedly expired and, most importantly, the premium is charged from farmers with the claim that worms or insects cannot trouble this cotton's plantation has also been found to be false, according to Mahajan.

"As IN214436 patent which is the underlying patent for BG-II version of Bt Cotton hybrid seeds has expired, the trait value for BG-II version of Bt Cotton hybrid seeds should also be considered as zero, like in the case of BG-I version, while fixing the sale price for BG-II version."

Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in its Cotton Seeds Price (Control) Order, 2015, abolished the controversial trait value of BG-I version of Bt Cotton hybrids.

Moreover, Mahajan says such patents, which he claims have now expired, are deemed illegal in India. Speaking to IANS, Mahajan who is often credited for stalling the RCEP, said, "In India, we don't allow patenting seeds. Yet they claim a patent here."

This is not the first time he wrote to the Ministry about it.

Last year on March 1, Mahajan wrote to the Ministry arguing against the trait value as illegal. But this time he claims, even that questionable patent has expired on November 4, 2019. So all the premium charged since has been unduly usurped, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch claims.

Another key argument is the claim over the crops' contamination. "It has repeatedly conceded by the Ministry that Bt 2 trait has not been working for Pink Bollworm and there was no justification for charging trait value of any amount, against the interests of the farmers," he wrote.

While Monsanto is a global corporate giant and wields massive influence, the argument of bringing farmers' interest may be prove to be tricky for the Centre.

The Modi government has gone out of its way to project a pro-farmer image in this Union Budget where apart from goodies, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced Kisan Rail and Kisan Udan -- the train and flight services dedicated for farmers.

With Mahajan making a strong case for farmers, the Centre is faced with a tricky situation.

Source: IANS