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Bt Cotton: Cultivating Farmer Distress in India
Todhunter, Colin
http://countercurrents.org/2020/02/bt-cotton-cultivating-farmer-distress-in-indiahttp://dissidentvoice.org/2020/02/bt-cotton-cultivating-farmer-distress-in-india/ Date Written: 2020-02-07 Year Published: 2020 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX24016 To date, cotton is the only officially sanctioned GM crop in India. Those pushing for GM food crops (including the government) are forwarding the narrative that GM pest resistant Bt cotton has been a tremendous success which should now be emulated with the introduction of GM mustard. Ever since its commercialisation in 2002, however, the issue of Bt cotton in India has been a hotly contested issue. Bt cotton hybrids now cover over 95% of the area under cotton and the seeds are produced by the private sector. But critics argue that Bt cotton has negatively impacted livelihoods and fuelled agrarian distress and farmer suicides. Subject Headings |