India Update: Better Yields and Prices; Child Labor Allegations
October 28, 2010 Recent months have been a mixed bag of good and bad developments for cotton growers in India, according to multiple news sources. On the positive side, the cost of crop inputs are down and yields are up thanks to Project SHARE, a joint initiative by global agri-business firm Monsanto and the Indian Society of Agrobusiness Professionals (ISAP). In addition, global cotton prices have been so high lately that farmers in Maharashtra are pressuring the government to increase its minimum support price (MSP) for cotton by 50 percent, from $0.675 per kg to $1.01 per kg.
However, on the negative side, there have also been reports that more than 100,000 children below the age of 14 years have been forced to work in Bt cotton fields across the state of Gujarat. The report comes from Buniyadi Adhikar Andolan Gujarat (BAAG), a state-level body made up of seven independent member organizations working for the common cause of basic rights.
Sharing the Wealth
Nearly 3,800 small farmers in Andhra Pradesh will enjoy greater yields from their cotton fields this year thanks to Project SHARE, which began in 2009. The joint initiative includes a five-year plan to raise small farmers’ income via sustainable farming practices such as water conservation, the effective use of fertilizers and sprays, intercropping, and effective resource management.
The project seeks to increase small farmers’ crop productivity through high-yielding seeds, better quality inputs and improved farming practices. It involves 3,750 farmers, each of whom has converted some portion of their agricultural land in Adilabad into experimental plots to test the sustainable agriculture methods. Sources say that many farmers are enjoying better yields despite the fact that they cut their expenses on crop inputs by 50 percent.
Monsanto didn’t undertake the project solely out of altruism, however, and believes it will demonstrate the effectiveness of its products and the concept of sustainable production. “I do not see Project SHARE as CSR [corporate social responsibility],” said Jerry Steiner, Monsanto executive vice president of corporate affairs and sustainability, in a corporate statement when the project was announced. “This is an opportunity to show how our products can change lives and help create an environment that protects the investment and innovation.”
ISAP CEO Rajeev Dar added, “Our partnership with Monsanto on Project SHARE will develop a sustainable model that provides small and marginal farmers access to technology, better inputs, agronomic practices, and market linkages to improve farm productivity, thereby making farming a viable proposition.”
Farmers Demand Better Price
Farmers who are gathering in Nagpur for Maharashtra’s first-ever “Cotton Conclave” (Kapus Parishad) will petition the state and central governments to increase their MSP payments for cotton by 50 percent. It is the biggest cash crop grown in the Vidarbha region and as such, its price goes a long way toward determining the financial future of the three million families who grow it.
To date, all indications are that the government will resist those demands and try to keep the minimum procurement price at $0.675 per kg–a rate fixed two years ago–but farmers counter that the cost of inputs has increased since then, and the price should increase as well.
Kishor Tiwari, president of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (the company sponsoring the Conclave), has also implied that if the MSP is not raised and growers are unable to repay their debts, the government can expect another spate of farmer suicides.
Child Labor in Cotton Fields?
Activists with BAAG say they witnessed as many as 100,000 children less than 14 years of age were forced to work in Bt cotton fields–and worse, that many of the girls were sexually assaulted or raped. BAAG, which consists of seven independent organizations working together to ensure people’s basic rights are protected, believes that local villagers are paid a commission by farmers for bringing the children in to work.
The organization says the state government has not been able to enforce laws against child labor, and that the tribal children–many of whom have little or no access to education–are paid a very poor wage for the work they do. Sources say they sometimes received less than $1.50 per day for their labor, and that figures includes the commission for the agent who delivered the child to the field.
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