MBA 617

Study on impact of Bt-Brinjal introduction on the Small & Marginal Farmer of India Project Report

Akshaya Pandey Chandan Jha Gyan Vikas Tarun Rawat 4/23/2010

2

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................................. 3

Introduction: ........................................................................................................................................... 4

Focus of Study ......................................................................................................................................... 7

The promises and claims ......................................................................................................................... 8

Some Arguments ..................................................................................................................................... 9

Economic Impact of Bt Brinjal ............................................................................................................... 13

Impact on Individual Farmer ............................................................................................................. 13

Impact on Farming Community ........................................................................................................ 18

Impact on Non-Bt Brinjal Farmer .................................................................................................. 19

Impact on Bt-Brinjal Farmers ........................................................................................................ 20

Impact on Both- Bt Farmers and non- Bt Farmers ........................................................................ 20

Other Related Issues ..................................................................................................................... 21

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 23

Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 24

APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................................... 25

3

Acknowledgement

First and foremost, we would like to thank to our supervisor of this project, Dr. Rahul

Varman for the valuable guidance and advice. He inspired us greatly to work in this project.

His willingness to motivate us contributed tremendously to our project. We also would like to

thank him for showing us various issues which we could consider in our project.

We would like to thank Dr. Bhaskar Goswami, for helping us out with our Queries which we

had from time to time. He was also instrumental in explaining to us the entire issue related to

Gm food crops and Bt –Brinjal in particular. His immense knowledge related to agriculture

and allied fields was instrumental in successful culmination of our project.

Finally, we would like to thank our collegue, Mr. Manish Kumar Maurya who helped us with

calculating the cost-benefit analysis of Bt-Brinjal and non Bt-Brinjal crops.

4

Introduction:

In Hindu mythology when the great deluge came and everything was washed away,

the then emperor Manu was saved by God‟s will and carried himself to the top of Himalayas.

In his boat he carried two of each animal on the earth and seeds from every kind of plant.

Importance of food in preserving life at planet can‟t be explained without reference from

scriptures. It is the most vital factor why life blossomed on earth. The art of growing food,

agriculture, is preserved since centuries. The one thing that has not changed since last

thousands of years is Agriculture. It not only provides us food for our living but, carries long

histories of civilizations with itself. Even today we use the similar methods for cultivating

crops as used in Harappan Civilization. It requires the same seed, water, sunlight as it

required thousands of years ago and it gives us same precious food as it used to give then.

But, human greed is far more demonic in nature than any other form. Since the day we

realized the functioning of our brain, we are in constant pursuit of snatching all the resources

from Mother Nature and use it without giving any single thought to other species living in

this beautiful world. Today our intelligent brain has brought us to that cross way where we

need to make a final decision with the future of this planet. Global warming, melting glaciers,

rising pollution level, frequent hurricanes, droughts, fear of nuclear war and many more; the

list of our sins are endless. But, the greatest sin is to play with the food chain of this planet.

The recent debate on „Introduction of Bt Brinjal in India‟ needs to be re-examined in a

broader prospect so that its social and economic affects can be gauged without being blinded

by the rosy promises of big corporations. Although, this issue is put on moratorium but, it

can‟t be considered as a ban on introduction of Bt Brinjal in India. We have already gone

through the arguments from both the sides. Most of the arguments are in the context of its

safety and impact on environment. This issue needs to be looked from a different perspective

of agriculture economics to determine the strength in the promises made by corporations. For

a quick glance through the events please refer to Appendix A.

More than 40 kinds of vegetables of different varieties are produced in India. Mainly

produced vegetables are brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower, okra, onion, potato etc. The tables

below show annual brinjal production in India and major states producing brinjal in India.

For a graphical overview of brinjal production in India please refer Appendix B.

5

Area & Production of Horticulture Crops

Area ( In '000' HA )

Production ( In '000' MT)

Crops 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Area Production Area Production Area Production

Brinjal 568 9453 561 9678 600 10378

Major Brinjal Producing States

Area ( In '000' HA )

Production ( In '000' MT)

State 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Area Production Area Production Area Production

ANDHRA PRADESH 26.564 531.28 26.564 531.28 28.5 428.2

BIHAR 55.117 1186.118 54.6 1158.2 54.1 1120.6

GUJARAT 62.563 1046.261 55.8 987.7 57.8 933.8

JHARKHAND 22.675 453.9 19 379.8 17 339.1

WEST BENGAL 155.32 2758.582 153.9 2734.9 152.5 2698.6

TOTAL 322.23 5976.141 309.86 5791.88 309.9 5520.3

Area & Production Brinjal for 06-07, 07-08 and 08-091

This table clearly shows that more than 50% of brinjal production is done in five states and

four out of five states are considered as the laggard states of Indian economy. These states are

highly populous and most of the brinjal is consumed locally. It won‟t be incorrect if we

assume that brinjal is a vegetable of common man in India. A total of 1.4 million small,

marginal and resource-poor farmers grow brinjal on 310,000 hectares annually in all the eight

vegetable growing zones throughout India. It is an important cash crop for poor farmers, who

transplant it from nurseries at different times of the year to produce two or three crops, each

of 150 to 180 days‟ duration. Farmers start harvesting fruits at about 60 days after planting

and continue to harvest for 90 to 120 days, thereby providing a steady supply of food for the

family; it also provides a stable income from market sales for most of the year.

Shoot and fruit borer cause serious damage to brinjal fruits leading to low yield. The damage

of the fruit starts soon after transplanting and continues till harvest of fruits. This requires

frequent pesticide use; in some cases after each three day period. India ranks second in world

1 Area & Production Estimates for Horticulture Crops for 06-07, 07-08 and 08-09; Area Production statistics, National

Horticulture board

6

wide brinjal production but, suffer badly from low production yield due to pests such as shoot

and fruit borer. It requires high use of pesticides.

Bt Brinjal is a genetically modified version of brinjal that contains a gene Cry1Ac from a soil

bacterium called Bacillus Thuringienesis (Bt). Bt Brinjal, introduced by MHYCO, claims to

solve the problem of Fruit borer infestation. Bt brinjal and normal brinjal look same but the

difference lies in their genes. Only expansive tests can detect the presence of Bt variety.

Hence, there have been voices that it violates consumer‟s right, because they will not be in a

position to identify whether they are consuming Bt-Brinjal or non Bt-Brinjal. Choice of food

is a basic right of every living being. Also, the seeds have a life of their own and once

released in the environment, it is virtually impossible to recall them. This is the first

genetically modified food to be introduced in India and requires thorough verification. Prior

to this, Bt Cotton was introduced in India. Many questions are raised since then about the

success of GM variety crops. But, the basic discourse arises when we see the use of both the

crops. Bt Cotton is not an eatable crop but Bt brinjal is an eatable crop hence, it requires more

caution to introduce such crops.

Genetic engineering is similar to nuclear engineering. It can lead either to solving our

problems or towards complete disaster of life on planet. We need to study all its aspects

before using it. We do not deny from the fact that to eradicate hunger and malnutrition we

need better farming techniques but, blindly following any idea does not work well. The

implications of hurrying are obvious. We may lose our control on food chain. Also,

considering the complex nature of the technology, it may impact the environment in many

more ways than we can even anticipate.

7

Focus of Study

Controversy over Bt Brinjal has been widely reported by media. Arguments from both the

sides can be easily found over internet or in newspapers, magazines. Various sites are

available from where more data can be obtained such as http://www.csa-india.org,

www.iamnolabrat.com, www.greenpeace.org, www.indiagminfo.org. For a common citizen, it

sounds confusing and ultimately his stand on this issue is biased by the kind of arguments he

listens to. Being a student of business, social sciences, it is beyond our capacity to comment

on biological or, environmental impacts of genetically modified crops. With the assumption

that claims made by MHYCO regarding the cost structure, yield etc of Bt Brinjal are true, we

are trying to assess its suitability in Indian context. Most of the farmers carrying out Brinjal

production are small and marginal farmers, thus it is important to assess the suitability of the

Bt-Brinjal for them. We will attempt to analyze it not only on the basis of impact on

individual farmers but also the implications of Bt-Brinjal adoption on the farming community

as a whole. We will project the claims made by company researchers to our model and

analyze what will be its impact on micro level farming.

We will try to avoid any issues on which there is lack of clarity such as Health and safety

impact, soil impact etc, due to contradicting claims made by company sources and critics.

8

The promises and claims

Various promises and claims made by MHYCO in favour of use of Bt Brinjal are listed

below2:

1. It is reported that the average shoot damage in Bt Brinjal hybrids ranged from 0.04%

to 0.3% as compared to 0.12% to 2.5% in non-Bt Brinjal hybrids.

2. The percentage of damaged fruits reportedly ranged from 2.5% to 20% in Bt Brinjal

to 24% to 58% in non-Bt counterparts.

3. No significant difference was noted between Bt Brinjal and Non-Bt Brinjal, as per the

company which did bio safety tests like acute oral toxicity, sub-chronic oral toxicity

in rats, allergenecity of protein to rats, germination, weediness and aggressiveness

tests, soil micro-biota studies etc.

4. This will help small and marginal farmers from having to use 25-80 sprays of

pesticides which are ineffective, says the company.

5. The company claims that human health concerns due to pesticide use can be

addressed with this transgenic Brinjal with its in-built tolerance.

6. Company promises that through this in-built tolerance, there would be substantial

increase in marketable yields. Higher yields would result in higher incomes for

farmers, it is expected.

7. The pricing of the seeds will be based on a cost-recovery model, making it affordable

for all farmers, whether the seed comes from the private sector or the public sector, it

is promised.

8. Farmers will be able to continue to save and re-use their seed for the hybrids and

varieties because of this arrangement, it is reported.

2 Bt Brinjal – a Briefing Paper; Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, June 2006

9

Some Arguments

In this section we will present a few arguments which are related to social context of

genetically modified crops and their usage. Wherever needed, we will touch upon a few

arguments that were earlier made by critics but, that is mainly to make an assumption on

which our arguments stand. Considering that the issue is primarily related to its biological

impact, it is impossible to ignore these aspects and formulate a study purely on the basis of

social impact.

The very first question that comes to mind when we think about this issue is that whether

there is any need of a genetically modified brinjal in India or not? The table below shows

that brinjal constitutes approximately 8% of total vegetables produced in India. Its production

is not a small percentage of total vegetable production.

Crops 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Production Production Production

Potato 28600 34658 34391

Onion 10847 13900 13565

Tomato 10055 10303 11149

Brinjal 9453 9678 10378

Cabbage 5584 5910 68670

Cauliflower 5538 5777 6532

Okra 4070 4179 4528

Peas 2402 2491 2916

Tapioca 8232 9056 9623

Sweet Potato

1067 1094 1120

Others 29146 31402 28006

Total 114993 128449 129077

% of Brinjal 8.22% 7.53% 8.04%

Vegetable production in India from 2006 till 20093

But, the point mainly missed is that most of the time there are no cold storage facilities for its

preservation or there is no industry for it‟s by products. Considering the fact that it is highly

perishable fruit, emphasis should be on its preservation rather than over production. Bt brinjal

3 Area & Production Estimates for Horticulture Crops for 06-07, 07-08 and 08-09; Area Production statistics, National

Horticulture board

10

is meant to provide resistance against a particular kind of pests but, it can’t provide

protection against bad preservation techniques. During peak season, the production is so

high that brinjal is sold Rs. 3 a kilo in local markets. Sometimes, farmers have more supply

than demand. The news article below shows one such incident that could not get enough

attention4:

Amulya Pati

First Published: 09 Mar 2010 05:23:00 AM IST

JAJPUR: An increased production of brinjal in Jajpur district has spelt doom to its farmers

as the high output had brought down their prices. Besides, there is no cold storage for

preservation of brinjal and no industry for its by-products.

Brinjal is much sought after vegetable during marriage season. Farmers and traders wait for

this season as brinjals are bought in bulk by people. But this season, as there has been a huge

production of the vegetable, prices have nose-dived. At some places, farmers are forced to

destroy the vegetable as there are no buyers.

In the local market, brinjal is now being sold between Re 1 and Rs 1.50 a kg due to high

output but farmers have expected a minimum profit of Rs 3 a kg.

“I have stopped plucking brinjal from my farm these days as the selling price is even less

than the labour cost.

Thus, even though we assume the claim that Bt variety will be able to resist pests to be true, it

is not clear whether it will be for any benefit for the farmers or not.

The other point that is important to note is the use of brinjal for medicine. Brinjal is widely

used for medicinal purposes across the globe. In traditional Chinese medicine, all parts of the

plant are used to stop intestinal bleeding. Coming back to India, brinjal is widely used in

Ayurveda as a cure for stones, insomnia etc. The brinjals that we eat are usually not used for

medicine but, certain wild varieties are used extensively in ayurveda on unani medicine. The

effect of Bt gene on these varieties are unclear and we even don‟t know whether these wild

varieties will be introduced to genetic engineering or not. Its impacts are not studied by

Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM). Without having any knowledge about transmutation

4 http://expressbuzz.com/States/Orissa/high-output-pushes-down-brinjal-prices/154653.html

11

among different verities and its outcome, the introduction of Bt variety cannot be justified.

Difference between Bt and non – Bt variety can only be possible after extensive lab

experiments. Once introduced it will be impossible to call it back. It is unlike pesticides,

which can be easily called back from market once their harmful effects are known. We need

to ascertain ways so that the gene introduced in verities normally eaten by people do not

migrate to other verities or crops.

Now coming to the question why only brinjal, why not other crops? If productivity and food

crisis is a problem, then why spare potatoes, onions or tomatoes which are more produced

and used by common man. The reason can be that by introducing one genetically modified

crop, it opens gate for other approvals. If the first crop itself is low on testing front, what is

the guarantee that the others which are lined up will be heavily tested? Corporations like

Monsanto are more than willing to enter into Indian food market because they know that the

spine of any country‟s economy is its food chain. Once they have got that nerve right, they

will have control over our food market. The outcomes are heavily priced in this case.

One should not forget the MHYCO Hybrid Seeds is a joint venture company of Monsanto,

which has always been in controversies regarding all agriculture related issues. A subsidiary

of its in India is alleged to employ child labour in the manufacture of cotton seeds in India.

We already know about the false promises made by the company while introducing Bt Cotton

in India.

On March 5, the Indian subsidiary of the company announced that its first generation Bt

cotton was ineffective against the pink bollworm pest in parts of Gujarat. An internal analysis

of the statement of the Ministry of Environment and Forests says it “appears that this could

be a business strategy to phase out single gene events [that is, the first generation Bollgard I

product] and promote double genes [the second generation Bollgard II] which would fetch

higher price.”5

It is imperative to look this issue as business motives of corporations because the ultimate

beneficiaries in this case are these companies rather than the society. In modern India where

farmer suicides are prevalent during last two decades, there is a need to free the farmers from

piling debts. Introduction of such costly variety of seeds will only increase the burden and if

the crop fails because of bad weather or other calamity, farmer is going to lose heavily. The

5 “Monsanto „admission' has business motives?”: Priscilla Jebaraj; The Hindu, 13 March 2010;

http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/12/stories/2010031263690900.htm

12

gains may be high but, the risks are higher than that in Indian context. Farming is not a stock

market trading where you lose someday and gain another day; once a poor man loses his

crop, he loses control over his fortune. Organic farming is a better method because it is labour

intensive and relies on skill rather than on hefty initial cost. Poor farmers can be better

benefitted by multi cropping and crop rotation methods instead of relying on single crop.

Organic farming and sustainable agriculture are also based on highly scientific principles. It

is based on accurate observations and knowledge about highly complex inter-relationships

with nature. The argument that whatever is developed within the walls of complex

laboratories is scientific and what is preserved through years – the indigenous farmer‟s tacit

knowledge - is non-scientific needs to be re-examined. It is important to see the invisible hand

of corporate interests in this issue.

13

Economic Impact of Bt Brinjal

Impact on Individual Farmer

For the purpose of assessing the economic impact of introduction of Bt –Brinjal on the poor

& marginal Indian farmers, we have taken the data from the study on “Potential impacts of Bt

eggplant on economic surplus and farmers‟ health in India” conducted by Krishna and Qaim6

published in August 20076. They conducted a survey of 360 farmers in the states of Andhra

Pradesh, West Bengal and assessed their socio-economic conditions. Later they used the

findings of their surveys and company data to develop their own model to assess the impact

of Bt-Brinjal on the Indian Farmers.

The brief findings of the study have been given in the table below:

Table I: Average eggplant enterprise budgets with and without Bt Hybrids7

Center/South

Cost Distribution Without Bt.

With

Bt

Seed Cost(Rs/acre) 638 4642

Insecticide Cost(Rs/acre) 1972 1282

Labour Cost for Insecticide

Sprays(Rs/acre) 186 121

Harvesting Cost(Rs/acre) 4049 5993

Other Cost(Rs/acre) 11052 11092

Toal Variable Cost(Rs/acre) 17897 23090

Marketable Yield(Quintal/acre) 106 157

Per Unit Production Cost(Rs/quintal) 169 147

Gross Revenue(Rs/acre) 44670 66162

Gross Margin(Rs/acre) 26773 43072

At the face level, the findings indicate that Bt-Brinjal is a boon for the Indian farmers. The

marketable yield for Bt - brinjal farmer is about 157 Quintal / acre as against the non Bt-

6 “Potential impacts of Bt eggplant on economic surplus and farmers‟ health in India”, Vijesh V. Krishna , Matin Qaim, 11

July 2007. Agricultural Economics 38 (2008) 167–180 7 Table, Potential impacts of Bt eggplant on economic surplus and farmers‟ health in India; Vijesh V. Krishna, Matin Qaim.

14

Brinjal farmer‟s yield of 106 quintals/acre. Also, the gross income of Br-Brinjal farmers is

Rs. 43072 as against non Bt-Brinjal farmer‟s income of Rs. 26773, higher by almost 60%.

Thus, the study makes a very strong economic case for the adoption Bt-Brinjal by the Indian

farmers.

However, we feel study ignores several important aspects. The first and foremost among

which is cost savings due to reduction of pesticide use. As we can see from the above table,

the pesticide forms about 12% of the costs for non Bt-Brinjal. For Bt-Brinjal it comes down

to about 6%, thus the saving is not really a huge amount in terms of percentage. Also if one

considers in absolute terms, it has reduced the pesticide costs from Rs. 1972 to Rs. 1282, a

saving of only Rs. 690 / acre.

In case of the costs of seed procurement, the costs have seen a substantial increase from Rs.

638 to Rs. 4642. As a result, the percentage of seed cost in the total cost-structure has risen

from 3.56% for non Bt-Brinjal crop to 20% for Bt-Brinjal crop. Thus, the total rise in input

costs is around 29% out of which the seed cost alone account for 17% rise. Thus, we can see

that whatever benefits are being attributed to Bt-Brinjal for reducing pesticide usage and

lowering the total cost are not tenable. Considering the poor economic conditions of the

farmers and the fact, most of the time they are under debts, it would be difficult for them to

bear this additional cost burden.

The benefits which farmers get by adopting Bt-Brinjal are only due to lower loss of the

product to the “fruit borer”, thus resulting in the increase in yield from 106 Quintal/acre to

157 quintal/acre. But, in calculating the revenue accruing to farmer, the study has failed to

take into account the fall in prices due to higher yield. If one were to calculate the market

price per quintal of brinjal by dividing Gross Revenue by Yield obtained(Table I), one can

see it is Rs. 421/Quintal in both cases, i.e., for Bt-Brinjal as well as for non-Bt brinjal, which

seems highly optimistic due to following reasons:

a. Brinjal is a highly perishable vegetable, thus cannot be stored by farmers for long

durations.

b. Lack of adequate Cold storage facilities for vegetable in India8. Also, even if they

were available, considering the fact that it‟s the small and marginal farmers who grow

brinjal, they would not be able to afford it.

8 “India: High output pushes down brinjal prices”: Amulya Pati, 9th March 2010

15

c. Small & Marginal farmers usually take loans to grow their crops. They are generally

short of cash; hence they do not have the “bargaining power” in the wholesale

vegetable markets. Thus, they are forced to sell their crop at whatever prices are

prevailing in the market.

The net impact of above three factors would be a huge drop in market prices of brinjal. A

similar situation was seen in Jajpur recently due to a bumper production of brinjal. Thus, the

realized prices by the farmers would be much lower than that estimated in the study by

Krishna & Qaim. These lower prices would impact not only the Bt-Brinjal farmers, but also

the non Bt-Brinjal farmers.

In the Traditional farming methods and organic farming, the small & marginal farmers

usually keep their seeds from their previous produce, so that they can use them in next year9.

Thus, the seed cost for non-Bt farmers should have been much lower than what has been

considered in this study.

Another, very critical factor ignored in the study is that yield has been calculated under lab

conditions where all the necessary inputs were available. Thus, the underlying assumption of

the study is that the farmers have adequate resources to purchase all the necessary inputs

required for the Bt-Brinjal crop. Again, due to the poor economic conditions of small and

marginal farmers in India, we believe it should not be the case. Hence, the obtained yield will

in all probability be lower than the estimated yield. But for the purpose of our study, we will

assume that the indicated yield will be realized by the farmer.

Considering the above factors, we made some changes in the above cost-analysis and came

up with our own cost analysis to assess the economic impact of the Bt-Brinjal on the farmers.

Keeping the above factors in mind, we now build in certain key assumptions in the above

cost-analysis and develop a more realistic cost analysis to assess the economic impact of the

Bt-Brinjal on the farmers.

The key assumptions are:

9 http://expressbuzz.com/States/Orissa/high-output-pushes-down-brinjal-prices/154653.html

16

a. Farmer stores seeds from their produce and use them for sowing next year. Thus, do not

purchase them from open market. Hence the cost of seed should be much lower. We have

assumed the storage costs for seeds to be Rs. 100.

b. The yield/acre as indicated in the study by Krishna and Qaim6 is correct.

c. The almost 50% rise in the produce of brinjal should result in a sharp fall in the prices of

Brinjal. We have assumed that brinjal prices without adoption of Bt-Brinjal will be at same

levels as assumed by Krishna and Qaim6, i.e. Rs. 421. But in case of adoption of Bt-Brinjal,

we have considered various levels of price decline ranging from 25%-50% from the current

price levels.

d. All farmers adopt the Bt-Brinjal. Thus, we are currently not analyzing the impact of fall in

prices separately on farmers adopting Bt-Brinjal and those not adopting Bt-Brinjal.

Table 2 below, gives us the modified cost-benefit analysis of Brinjal production after

incorporating our assumptions.

Table 2: Average eggplant enterprise budgets with and without Bt hybrids

Without Bt. With Bt

25% decline 30% decline 40% decline

50% decline

Seed Cost(Rs/acre) 0 4642 4642 4642 4642

Insecticide Cost(Rs/acre) 1972 1282 1282 1282 1282

Labour Cost for Insecticide Sprays(Rs/acre) 186 121 121 121 121

Harvesting Cost(Rs/acre) 4049 5993 5993 5993 5993

Other Cost(Rs/acre) 11052 11092 11092 11092 11092

Toal Variable Cost(Rs/acre) 17259 23090 23090 23090 23090

Marketable Yield(Quintal/acre) 106 157 157 157 157

Per Unit Production Cost(Rs/quintal) 169 147 147 147 147

Gross Revenue(Rs/acre) 44670 49621.62 46313.51887 39697.3019 33081.0849

Gross Margin(Rs/acre) 27411 26531.62 23223.51887 16607.3019 9991.08491

Market Price/Quintal 421.41 316.06 294.99 252.84 210.70

Thus, we can see from the that even yield of Brinjal has increased due to adoption of Bt-

Brinjal, the fall in market prices more than offsets the benefits which farmers could have

gained by it. A price decline of about 25%, results in Gross Profits to farmer of Rs. 26531

17

which is lower than the pre Bt Gross profit levels for the farmer. The table clearly shows that

at any price decline of 25% or above, the farmer will be making lower profit than before.

Also, due to factors such as Brinjal being a perishable item, lack of cold storage facilities and

low bargaining power of the farmers, the price decline are likely to be in a range of at least

40%-50%.

Thus, we can see that with the adoption of Bt-Brinjal by the farmers, they are in fact in an

economically worse situation than before. They are facing a double whammy of higher input

costs and lower Profits. We have not considered the interest cost of the loans taken by

farmers due to the lack of data on the same regarding the extent of debt and interest rates. The

lack institutional credit system in most rural areas forces farmers to go to local merchants, the

rates of which are heavier.

18

Impact on Farming Community

So far we have analyzed the impact of Br-Brinjal introduction on the farmers individually.

We feel that the study which considers the impact of the introduction of Bt-Brinjal on the

individual farmer in isolation ignores several practical considerations. The primary reason for

this is that farmers live in a closely knit community. Also, due to factors such as soil, climates

etc grow similar crops in a region. Thus, in case of Brinjal, there will not be an isolated

farmer, in fact there will be several farmers growing brinjal on their fields. Thus, we have to

assess the impact of adoption of Bt-Brinjal by a few farmers on the community as a whole.

For carrying out analysis we have considered the following context.

There are 4 farmers in the village, 3 farmers shift to Bt-Brinjal in hope for higher yield and

higher Gross profits. One farmer remains with the non-Bt-crop due to lack of resources and

higher costs associated with the Bt-crops. Our final assumption was that we assumed that

company data is correct, Bt-Brinjal is more resistant to Fruit Borer are claimed by the

company.

We have assumed that fields are fairly close (bordering) to each other, which is correct in the

Indian context with adjacent fields. In the image below, The Field marked A is the non-Bt-

Brinjal Field and other 3 are Bt-Brinjals fields.

Farmer A

19

Impact on Non-Bt Brinjal Farmer

Increased vulnerability to Pest Infestation

Since, the Bt-crops are more resistant to attack by the Fruit Borer, the field A, would be more

prone to the pest infestation, as can be seen in the image below. Thus, the final yield of

farmer A would exhibit a decline as compared to the previous years. Hence, his realized

income would show a decline.

Alternatively, he will have to use lot more pesticides to protect his crops from infestation and

keep his yield at previous levels, thus increasing his costs.

Farmer A

Farmer A, (non Bt-crop) more

susceptible to Fruit Borer attack)

Seed Security of Farmers

Generally, Indian farmer store their seeds and replant them in the next season. With the high

risk of contamination by the Bt-brinjal and presence of “Terminator” technology in Bt-

Brinjal, farmer A can no longer follow the traditional method of storing and using the seeds

in next season. Thus, it greatly increases his cost as he has to purchase seeds for next season.

Also, it will increase his dependency on the seed companies and he will be at mercy of

pricing policies followed by the seed companies such as Monsanto. It also raises questions

about the “right to choose” their seeds from the perspective of Indian Farmers. It is very

alarming because the seeds are the most important input of the agricultural production and

anyone who controls the seed, controls the food chain10

.

10 “Transgenics in Indian Agriculture: Experiences so far and implications of KIA proposals on Indian Farmers”: G V

Ramanjaneyulu, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.

20

Impact on Bt-Brinjal Farmers

Risk of Secondary Pest Infestation

Assuming that the claims of Monsanto, the Bt-crops are more resistant to “fruit borer” &

require lesser pesticides. The Bt-crop farmer is required to spray lesser pesticides on his

fields. Though, the Bt-crops are resistant to the “fruit Borer” infestation, it will be vulnerable

to attack from secondary pests. Various secondary infestations exist for brinjal such as Hadda

Beatle, Sucking Pests such as Aphids, Jassids etc11

. Thus, even the Bt-crop farmers would

tend to experience a decline in the yield due to Secondary infestations and ultimately

experience a loss of income.

Farmer A

Bt-crop susceptible to Secondary Pest

attack.

If the Bt-crop growers farmers wish to protect their field from secondary pests, they would

still be required to use almost same amount of pesticide as they were using earlier, thus the

actual cost savings they realize by using Bt-crops would be far lower than estimated by the

various studies.

Impact on Both- Bt Farmers and non- Bt Farmers

Much Lower than Estimated Yields

With the higher produce of Brinjal, the supply of Brinjal in the market would increase a lot,

thus it would cause a sharp fall in prevailing market prices of Brinjal. Brinjal being a

11“Biology of Brinjal”, Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture India, Department of Biotechnology.

http://dbtbiosafety.nic.in/guidelines/brinjal.pdf

21

perishable item with relatively short life would tend to compound this issue. Hence the

estimated benefits by use of Bt-Brinjal are overstated in most studies as they do not account

for this fall in prices. This point has been explained in detail in the previous section.

Other Related Issues

Impact on Traditional Ayurvedic Medicines

Brinjal is an important ingredient in traditional Ayurvedic medicines. It is used in a variety of

preparations. As per the report, “Bt Brinjal Primer”, by CEE,

“In Ayurveda around 14 varieties of the brinjal are being used for medicinal preparations.

Each one differs in its medicinal properties.12

”

Quoting a line from the report “10 reasons to say no to Bt-Brinjal”:

“Bt Brinjal has not been assessed for its impact on Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM).Brinjal

and related species are used widely in Ayurveda and other medicinal systems. One can hence

not predict whether the entry of Bt Brinjal would make ISM medicines/practices ineffective or

even toxic!13

”

The above statement clearly highlights that with introduction of Bt-Brinjal, the Ayurvedic

industry will be in a state of uncertainty regarding its inputs used in preparation and their

impact on the medicines. Thus, we also run the risk of losing a tidy niche Ayurvedic market.

Pest Resistance

According to Dr. Bhaskar Goswami, a renowned agriculture and trade policy analyst, “Bt-

crops do not enhance productivity of crop or soil. They only increase the resistance of the

crops to pests. Since, with time the pests will become resistance to the Bt-crops as well; the

increased yield would decline after a few years.” Thus, there are no real long term benefits to

the farmers for the adoption of Bt-Brinjal.

Loss of Bio Diversity

India is a centre of origin and diversity of brinjal which has been cultivated here for over

4000 years. There are about 2000 varieties grown across India. The transgene transfer to local

and hybrid varieties of brinjal will effectively destroy our brinjal diversity. As a general rule

GM crops should not be cultivated in the centre of origin as it could lead to the loss of

original varieties by transgenic cross pollination12.

12 “10 Reasons for you to say “NO” to Bt Brinjal” http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/11765-ten-reasons-

to-say-no-to-bt-brinjal

13 “Bt-Brinjal: The Truth Behind it” http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/BtBrinjalBriefingbooklet.pdf

22

The genetic diversity is important because some of the strains will be naturally resistant to

lethal pathogens and 21 pests that may destroy the crops in the future. Once lost, this lack of

diversity can lead to the complete loss of the crop12.

Contamination Risks

Organic farmers would be at risk as there is no mechanism by which contamination by the

Bt-Brinjal could be stopped. The basic idea being floated by Monsanto that some minimum

distance needs to be maintained between the adjacent fields is not at all practicable in India

due to small & clustered land holdings in India. Consequently, it would result in Organic

farmers losing their “Organic Certification” and potential markets such as Ayurvedic

medicine etc. Co-Existence between the Bt-Brinjal farmers and non Bt-Brinjal famers does

not seem to be a possibility here.

De-skilling of farming communities

Seed-related decisions in farming should be based on local conditions and resources

available with the farmers. Over the centuries, farmers have made many innovations in

relation to Brinjal thus resulting in over 4000 varieties of Brinjal in our country each having

different taste and variety. Also, there varieties are hardy and suited to the local conditions.

Such innovations will get stifled due to the introduction of Bt Brinjal and existing IPR regime

which will prevent farmers from reusing the seeds and making any changes to them.

23

Conclusion

Introduction of Bt-Brinjal is a very sensitive issue with number of people in support of it and

many against it. There are several concerns related to it such as its impact on environment,

health effects on people etc. One line of thought even claimed that there is surplus brinjal

production in India; hence there is no real need for tampering with the existing methods of

production.

From our analysis, we can clearly see that introduction of Bt-Brinjal will have little positive

impact on the small & marginal farmers. In fact, it will result in much higher input prices

which the farmers may find it difficult to bear. The costs savings regarding pesticide usage

are not really tenable arguments as they contribute a small percentage of total costs.

Also, due to higher yield, it will lead to a situation of supply glut resulting in a huge fall in

market price levels of Brinjal. From our cost-analysis model, we are able to clearly see that

after adoption of Bt-Brinjal by farmers, any fall in prices by 25% or more, will reduce the

Gross Profits of the farmers. This coupled with the higher input prices will act as a double

whammy on the farmers who adopt Bt-Brinjal production, thus putting him in a worse

economic situation than before. In case of farmers who do not adopt –Bt-Brinjal, it will result

in lower prices for their current yield, thus impacting their profits as well.

There are externalities on the non Bt-Brinjal farmers in the form of contamination, inability

to reuse their seeds, increased pest attacks etc. The issue of contamination is serious as it

severely affects the other forms of agriculture such as Organic Farming etc, thus, violating

the “Right to Choose” for the farmers as well as Consumers.

Apart from these there are huge concerns about impact on biodiversity, increased dependence

on Monsanto, Pest resistance and Contamination of non BT-crops which will impact us in

many other complex ways. Even our traditional forms of Medicine such as Ayurveda are

adversely affected by introduction of Bt-Brinjal.

Thus to conclude, we feel Bt-Brinjal does not offer any real benefits to our small and

marginal farmers. There is no real incentive to expedite its introduction as it is not something

that farmers have demanded. All major farmers' organizations of the country have already

rejected it by large scale protests across the country.

24

Bibliography

1. Area & Production Estimates for Horticulture Crops for 06-07, 07-08 and 08-09; Area

Production statistics, National Horticulture board

2. Bt Brinjal – a Briefing Paper; Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, June 2006

3. India: High output pushes down brinjal prices”: Amulya Pati, 9th March 2010

4. “Monsanto „admission' has business motives?”: Priscilla Jebaraj; The Hindu, 13

March 2010;

5. “Potential impacts of Bt eggplant on economic surplus and farmers‟ health in India”,

Vijesh V. Krishna , Matin Qaim, 11 July 2007. Agricultural Economics 38 (2008)

6. “Transgenics in Indian Agriculture: Experiences so far and implications of KIA

proposals on Indian Farmers”: G V Ramanjaneyulu, Centre for Sustainable

Agriculture.

7. “Biology of Brinjal”, Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture India, Department of

Biotechnology.

8. “10 Reasons for you to say “NO” to Bt Brinjal”

http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/11765-ten-reasons-to-say-no-to-

bt-brinjal

9. “Bt-Brinjal: The Truth Behind it”

http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/BtBrinjalBriefingbooklet.pdf

25

APPENDICES APPENDIX A: A short History of Bt Brinjal

26

Appendix B: Geographical Spread of Brinjal Growing Area

Solid shading indicates a traditional brinjal growing area while light feathering indicates

sparsely spread area under brinjal.

Source: “Biology of Brinjal”, Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture India., Department of

Biotechniology. http://dbtbiosafety.nic.in/guidelines/brinjal.pdf