When rediff.com visited Nandol, Nandubhai was sitting in the cash-rich co-operative of farmers of Nandol and interacting with his neighbour. He said farmers have earned so much due to BT cotton cultivation that their 500-member co-operative is capable to lend Rs 1 crore as loans to its members. On an average, they earn Rs 60,000 per acre per cultivation.
He tried hard to convince that farmers in his area had a good monsoon, lot more water and assured and disciplined supply of electricity during the Modi rule.
If Chief Minister Narendra Modi wins the 2007 election, he should thank Monsanto and the scientists who applied GM seeds in farms to grow cotton. Today, 'BT cotton kheti' (farming), as it is popularly known in Gujarat, has touched a turnover of Rs 20,000 crore annually, giving Modi's politics of development an edge. No wonder, the chief minister talks confidently about the agricultural sector.
Modi keeps repeating in his interviews that when he took charge of the state agriculture turnover was Rs 9,000 crore, and now it is more than Rs 30,000 crore. But it has hardly anything to do with what the government actually did, and plenty to do with what it did not do: it did not take seriously the issue of Intellectual Property Rights.
Farmers like Rakesh Kalidas Patel and Raju Patel were the first users of duplicate seeds and made a huge success of it. The overwhelming chunk of growth of cotton production is due to, if not 'illegal,' legally-disputed sowing of BT cotton seeds in Gujarat. Monsanto has gone to court with their Indian agents.
Arun Jaitely, BJP leader and senior advocate, is holding brief on behalf of Sabrakantha-based farmers of Gujarat. "Modi government has not cared much to take action against people copying Monsanto seeds," says Bhaiji bhai Patel.
All over the country, BT cotton is produced on 8.6 million acre of farms. Gujarat's share is 30%. In villages after villages in North Gujarat one sees the prosperity in Cotton-growing farmers.
Purshottam Patel of Akli village near Dahod told rediff.com: "Thanks to BT cotton technology that gives us high yield of cotton we have seen good money quite fast. Like city people I have also got marble floors in my home," says the proud farmer.
Cotton farming with 'copied' technology of Monsanto has been so successful that farmers are not getting enough workers for their fields. Landowners are ready to pay Rs 100 per day, much above the fixed rate. The shortage of farmers has resulted in increase of child labour in fields of North Gujarat.
Also read: Modi's gambit and the battles within
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