suicide farmers + BT Cotton in India

Killing fields The region of Vidarbha in the federal state of Maharashtra in central India, once known for its high yielding cotton harvest, has recently been making negative headlines again and again, because it has become a synonym for the region that drives the most cotton farmers in India to their deaths.

Killing fields

The region of Vidarbha in the federal state of Maharashtra in central India, once known for its high yielding cotton harvest, has recently been making negative headlines again and again, because it has become a synonym for the region that drives the most cotton farmers in India to their deaths. More than 200,000 cotton farmers took their own lives in the federal state of Maharashtra over the last decade – 70 % of them in Vidarbha.

A downward price spiral and sinking harvest yields are driving the farmers to despair. The cotton farmers' suicide is only a symptom, a highly dramatic and tragic one, of the fight for survival which is facing Indian cotton farmers.

Cotton, once described as white gold, is becoming more and more a synonym for price dumping and price collapse. India has allowed the import of cotton since 1998, on the insistence of the WTO. Since then, cotton prices have fallen continuously. In addition, India has withdrawn from the state-buying of cotton. In 1970 the Indian state guaranteed the cotton producers a fixed price, independent of the world market. In 1998 this regulation was abolished.

In addition, genetically manipulated Bt cotton was approved for use in 2002. Bt cotton seed is more expensive: It costs 1,900 Rs per kg. Traditional seed costs just 200 Rs per kg. Bt cotton seed also has to be bought each year, while the traditional seed could be used again. In addition, Bt cotton requires much more pesticide and fertilizer - which drives the production costs to extreme heights.