A ‘pro-GM seed’ movement, which had begun in one district of Maharashtra with farmers defying [a] ban on planting unapproved [herbicide-tolerant] Bt cotton [on June 10], spread its wings to 10 other districts of the state [by June 24] ….
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“Farmers have been planting such seeds openly despite facing risk of arrests under existing law as they want to send a strong message to authorities ….” said Ajit Narde, head of [the] science & technology cell at Shetkari Sanghatana [the farmer’s union behind the protests.]
He claimed that [protests] defying [the] ban on cotton have spread from [the village of] Akoli Jahagir in Akola district to many villages in Ahmednagar, Amravati, Buldhana, Dhule, Hingoli, Jalna, Jalgaon, Parbhani, Wardha and Yavatmal as of [June 24].
The National Seed Association of India (NSAI), which represents top seed companies, however, reacted strongly against the farmers’ move in Maharashtra to defy the ban on the unapproved variety of transgenic seeds.
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[O]ver a dozen “progressive cotton farmers” are expected to declare their intention to conduct demonstration trials to test the efficacy and economics of HTBt cotton ….Read full, original article: Pro-GM seed movement spreads to 11 districts in Maharashtra
