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Development and Diffusion of the Genetically Modified Bt Cotton Technology in Gujarat

Researcher: Esha Shah 

The debate on the social and environmental appropriateness of genetically engineered organisms has entered a crucial phase in the context of the events around the introduction, diffusion, and performance of Bt cotton seeds in India. Thousands of farmers from Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka have cultivated the so-called "pirated" or "illegal" seeds supplied originally by the Navbharat seed company at least three years before the patent protected Bt seeds of Monsanto Mhyco Biotech were approved by the Indian government. The sheer existence and popularity of "illegal" Bt cotton seeds posits a paradoxical problem: While the proponents and opponents are fiercely debating the potential risks of genetically modified crop technology for society and environment, farmers have quietly appropriated and massively diffused the genetically engineered knowledge on cotton seeds.

This study examines this paradox by asking a question: Why have thousands of farmers in Gujarat adopted locally produced Bt cotton seeds? This study offers two arguments. First, Bt seed technology is representative of a technological culture with a specific value framework which is endorsed commonly by both multinational companies and the cotton growing farmers of Gujarat. The improvement and massive diffusion of Bt cotton seeds by farmers themselves in Gujarat implies that the technology finds a smooth insertion within the social and agrarian space shaped by the technological paradigm of the green revolution. As a solution to the problems generated by the green revolution technological paradigm, GM technology sustains and reinforces the hegemony of global and local elites.Second, the involvement of local actors in generation and diffusion of GM technological knowledge does not ensure automatic democratisation of use and management of resources. The adoption of Bt technology shows that local elites have political agency that joins hands with global elites in perpetuating the hegemony of the green revolution technological paradigm.

What is ultimately proposed is that the framework of back-end risk assessment, potential threat of monopolisation of knowledge, and the dynamics of regulatory framework may not be sufficient to evaluate appropriateness or social desirability of genetically engineered crop technology as they do not address front-end issues such as social context of technological choice. The appropriateness or social desirability of genetic engineering of crop technology should be understood with respect to wider issues concerning democratisation of technological culture (which would also entail democratisation of social and agrarian relations) and not in the narrow frame of risk or knowledge control.

 

Contact: cised@isec.ac.in

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