contractual obligations. FSII is
committed to foster such values
amongst its members.”
FSII calls Bt Cotton regulations
highly demotivating
As per the letter written by the
newly constituted Federation of
Indian Seed Industry Association
(FSII), a national body of seed
companies, the move to cap the Bt
cotton prices is not a justified
move. The
Association
that was
launched
recently at
Delhi claims
to be
committed to
promoting
science and
technology
based Seed
Industry in
India, for the
benefit and
welfare of
Indian
farmers.
The BioVoice
eMag which
is in possession of the letter, FSII
response to CSPCO clearly
mentions that it has been written
against the background of recent
regulatory measures in Cotton
seeds, which have the potential to
negatively impact the entire
Indian Seed industry. "The Cotton
Seed Price (control) Order issued
in December 2015(CSPCO) and
subsequent actions in regulating
prices and licensing fee are not in
the larger interest of the Seed
Industry. What is of greater
concern is the unilateral action of
the Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare, GOI, in issuing
a notification of Trait Licensing
guidelines and format for the GM
technology on 18th May 2016,
which is subsequently placed as
draft licensing guidelines inviting
comments and suggestions from
public by 24th Aug 2016," it says.
It is mandatory for the technology
provider to license the technology
to any seed company that
approaches. But FSII letter puts
out a question that if the
technology provider does not give
the license in 30 days then it is
‘deemed to have been given ‘and
the seed company can use it: This
equates all seed companies to be
equal. Some of the good quality
seed companies with high stakes
and those who do not have long
term stakes are all put into the
same category. "Is this fair to the
good quality seed companies who
invest a lot of money in setting up
research and other
infrastructure?," it asks.
The note from FSII says that
currently, over 95% of the Cotton
market is covered by Bt Cotton
from 49 Seed companies. This
actually proves that the Bt traits
were made widely available and
was widely used by the farmers.
One wonders, when the
technology has reached such a
large section of ultimate
beneficiaries through a very wide
number of Seed companies, what
was the need for new policy
guidelines which have clearly
written on an assumption that
there was a restricted availability
of technology. If these draft
licensing guidelines were to be
implemented, it will close the
door for any future crop biotech
product from
the private
sector with
serious
implications
for the Indian
agriculture
and also for
the seed
Industry.
In addition to
such arbitrary
price
regulation, if
the freedom
of choice of
licensee is not
allowed, it
would surely
discourage any entrepreneur to
invest further in such a venture.
This would ultimately be at the
cost of Indian agriculture as it
would curtail access to modern
technologies for