[Editor 1] Safe trip everyone!
[Editor 2] What's this?
[Editor 2] Is it a funeral?
[Editor 1] I don't know.
[Editor 2] Yes, it's a funeral.
[Widow] It happened during the Navaratri festival.
[Widow] Some village women came and asked if I'd go to the goddess Devi temple.
[Widow] I refused, because I was worried about my husband,
but he also insisted that I go.
[Widow] As soon as I entered the temple,
the medium who spoke on behalf of the Goddess,
looked at me closely.
[Widow] It seemed she suddenly knew everything.
[Widow] She lay down in the aisle, as if in our house,
like a man, my husband.
[Widow] She lay like that for about an hour.
[Widow] Then she stood up.
[Widow] Her face changed.
[Widow] It looked like the face of a person,
who had just taken medicine.
[Widow] Devi's face changed completely.
[Widow] I ran like the wind.
[Widow] I was in a kind of trance.
[Widow] I ran as fast as I could.
[Widow] I saw my husband...
lying on the floor.
[Widow] His face was horrible,
like Devi's face in the temple.
[Widow] He lay motionless.
[Widow] When I saw him...
I started crying.
[Widow] I put my hand in his shirt,
and I found some papers there.
[Widow] I took them out...
[Widow] People read them and told me he had huge debts.
[Widow] He had mortgaged our land.
[Widow] He killed himself because of those debts.
100% COTTON. MADE IN INDIA
[Editor] Hello, nice to meet you.
[Editor] This guy's name is Artyom also,
and we have a cameraman, Kirill.
[Editor] That's our crew.
[Editor] So maybe if it's possible we can go to the district where a lot of stories with farmer suicides (happened)?
[Naveen] We'll actually go to villages.
[Editor] Ok, good.
[Naveen] I'll help you with that. With me, another person is also coming.
[Editor] You have a car, yes? [Naveen] No.
[Editor] He's a volunteer called Naveen.
[Editor] He was an IT engineer.
[Editor] He worked for four years in the US,
then returned to Delhi and got involved in all this.
[Editor] He's an idealist,
he's for world peace...
organic food and so on.
[Translator] So he stood here?
[Vigea Kumaraswa, Widow] Yes, he stood here.
[Vigea] And this is where he fell...
when it happened.
[Vigea] I saw a bottle of pesticide in his hand.
[Vigea] I kept asking why he needed it,
but he didn't reply.
[Vigea] Then he suddenly fainted,
and we took him to the hospital.
[Vigea] Then he died.
[Vigea] It was all because of the loans.
[Vigea] He discussed his problems with the children.
[Translator] How much did he have to pay? [Vigea] Seven to eight lakhs (700,000 - 800,000) rupees.
[Vigea] In the past four years he wasn't able to repay the loans,
because there was no rain and no water in the well.
[Anusha, Daughter] He came early and worked all day, but it was hard to make the field pay.
[Translator] Did you ever imagine he might kill himself?
[Anusha] We didn't expect it but we knew there were problems.
[Anusha] He told us about his problems, and we offered support.
[Anusha] We were even ready to sell our home,
to allow him to repay the loans.
[Translator] How old are your sister's kids?
[Anusha] The boy's seven, and the girl's five.
[Translator] Where are they?
[Anusha] Oh, in Bhoopalapally.
[Anusha] They say, 'Why do we have to go if Granddad's not there?'
Statistics vary a lot.
[Editor] NGOs repeatedly say that since the 90s,
250,000 people have died because of it.
[Editor] But the government only acknowledges about 7,000 incidents per year.
[Dr. G. V. Ramanjaneyulu, Agricultural Scientist, Centre For Sustainable Agriculture]
[Dr. GV Ramanjaneyulu] Nationally in the last 20 years, 2.9 lahk (290,000) farmers have committed suicide.
[Dr. GV Ramanjaneyulu] This is as per national crime bureau records.
[Kirankumar Vissa, Agricultural Scientist] Bt cotton has been promoted as something
which actually solves the problems of the Indian farmers
who were cultivating cotton during a crisis.
[Kirankumar] Something that comes... is thrust upon farmers as a solution,
starts creating more problems.
[Kirankumar] There are many places where Bt cotton is actually not suitable for cultivation.
[Kirankumar] Bt cotton seed companies,
on the seed package, they say it's suitable both for irrigated and not irrigated conditions.
[Kirankumar] So this is basically deception of the farmers.
[Kirankumar] And the third thing is that they actually spend huge amounts of money on advertising.
[Kirankumar] If you look at this particular advertisement,
this doesn't even come across as an advertisement.
[Kirankumar] It comes across as a news article.
[Kirankumar] In fact, the journalists of Times of India, which is the largest newspaper,
were taken on a paid trip by Monsanto to these villages,
they asked them to take the photographs, make this into an article and then it is published paid by Monsanto.
[Kirankumar] The only thing that gives any clue is very small print here
which is a "consumer connect initiative".
[Kirankumar] There is no name of Monsanto mentioned anywhere here.
MONSANTO PROMOTIONAL VIDEO, YOUTUBE.
FROM RT. RT IS AN INTERNATIONAL TV NETWORK CURRENTLY MAKING A DOCUMENTARY FILM
ABOUT CERTAIN AGRICULTURAL ISSUES IN DEVELOPING ASIAN COUNTRIES, INCLUDING
INDIA. IN PARTICULAR, WE'D LIKE TO TOUCH UPON THE TOPIC OF GM CROPS (I.E.
BT COTTON) THAT ARE CURRENTLY BEING ACTIVELY INTRODUCED IN THE REGION.
FROM MONSANTO WE RECEIVED YOUR QUERY AND WOULD LOVE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOUR NEEDS AND
DEADLINES. MUCH OF WHAT YOU ASK ABOUT GMOS IS POSTED ONLINE AT WWW.GMOANSWERS.COM.
[GEO] Bridgewate
[Editor] What are you doing, what's going on?
[Jim Gerritsen, Farmer] We are shipping some seed potatoes to customers down in the southern US.
[Editor] Is it that time of the year when you do it?
[Jim] Yes, right now they are taking potatoes to
Georgia, Alabama, North and South Carolina
and as soon as their ground warms up, they will be planting.
[Woman] Ok and your last name? ... And your address?
[Jim] We could right now
with what food we have feed 9-10 billion people,
15 billion people with current supplies of food.
[Jim] It's not a matter of a shortage of food.
[Jim] The problem is distribution, and the problem is that hunger is a functional poverty.
[Jim] Biotech companies are not going to be eliminating poverty,
they are increasing poverty by forcing farmers
to have to buy seed from them each and every year,
breaking a tradition that has gone on for 10,000 years
of farmers saving seed, regionally adapting the seed best to their farm
and their locale and their neighbors and trading that seed back and forth.
FROM RT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REPLY!
WE'D LIKE TO GET OFFICIAL COMMENT ON THE ISSUE. AS
WE ARE TV CHANNEL, IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO GET INFORMATION
ON WWW.GMOANSWERS.COM WE'D LIKE TO HAVE VIDEO
INTERVIEW WITH MONSANTO REPRESENTATIVE ON THIS TOPIC. FROM MONSANTO REPRESENTATIVE
WE ARE MEDIA AGENCY OF ASSOCIATION FOR THE BIOTECH LED ENTERPRISES - AGRICULTURE GROUP AND
WORK CLOSELY WITH MONSANTO AND OTHER COMPANIES. WE HAVE GOT YOUR QUESTIONS AND HAPPY TO
TAKE IT FORWARD. HOWEVER, WE WERE WONDERING IF WE CAN GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR INDIA REPRESENTATIVE
HERE. FROM RT. WE FOUND A CORRESPONDENT IN DELHI. HE'LL GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU SOON.
[GEO] Washington D.C., USA
[Alexis Baden-Mayer, Esq., Political Director, Organic Consumers Association]
[Alexis] India is now the fourth largest producer of genetically modified crops.
[Alexis] Most countries have rejected GMOs.
[Alexis] India has accepted them for cotton only,
this has not worked out for the economy,
and it hasn't certainly worked out for the farmers who are growing.
[Alexis] Monsanto has addressed the issue of Indian farmer suicide on its website
and they cite many studies that point to the failure of the economic system
not being able to provide reliable credit for farmers,
for the problem that Indian farmers don't have access to irrigation equipment or water to irrigate.
[Alexis] They also blame the weather, the draughts,
any type of condition that would make it more difficult for farmers to grow their crops.
[Alexis] But what they refuse to admit, what is so obvious,
is that because they have deprived farmers of the choice of which cotton to grow,
they are forcing farmers who cannot irrigate,
to grow a crop that requires irrigation for success.
[Alexis] I was looking at stories about Indian suicide problem
and there was a photo of widows who were attending a conference of farmer widows,
and they were all dressed so beautifully
in these bright, gorgeous colors of the pink and the orange and the red.
[Alexis] Yes, it's amazing what a beautiful country India is.
[Savita Divakar Bhomale, Widow] We had sowed four acres of land,
four or five days before it happened.
[Savita] He was deep in thought, didn't eat or talk to anyone.
[Savita] He didn't tell me anything, only complained about his debts.
[Savita] That day, he left on foot at 10am,
and said he'd be back soon.
[Savita] He returned at lunchtime,
and told me he'd drunk pesticide in the field.
[Savita] He got to the hospital in a bad condition,
and died at 3.
[Savita] My son's in year 11 at school, my daughter year 9.
[Savita] She goes to a school specialising in English.
[Savita] What should I do now?
[Savita] Those two acres bring in no income.
[Savita] I have to think what to do.
[Savita] There's no one to count on, my husband's parents are old.
[Savita] How can I survive with nothing but these two acres and huge debts?
[Savita] I'm in serious trouble.
[Editor] Monsanto's in the US,
then the seeds go to Delhi, Hyderabad and Warangal,
and then through rich farmers to the lowest levels.
[Editor] You know that India and developing countries
are the testing ground for big GMO companies?
[Editor] They're not too careful here.
[Translator] What's this place?
[Translator] Why are you doing this,
why have you organised all this?
[Manchalla Krishna Muthy, Representative, Anchor Seeds Company] This is a demonstration field for the farmers.
[Manchalla] They can come here and have a look.
[Manchalla] It helps them increase their harvests.
[Manchalla] Ordinary seeds sprouted very slowly,
or didn't sprout at all,
and farmers suffered losses.
[Manchalla] Also ordinary seeds only carry four or five flowers,
whereas GM cotton - up to ten.
[Naveen Ramisetti, Activist] So this is well-maintained farm.
[Naveen] Obviously, they have good watering system. I am impressed here.
[Naveen] I don't know how it grows on a filed.
[Naveen] If I am a farmer I would definitely buy from this place.
[Woman] GM cotton seeds need water.
[Woman] You also have to spray them,
and fertilise them two or three times.
[Woman] GM seeds need plenty of water.
[Woman] There wasn't much cotton this year.
[Woman] Disease almost ruined the crops completely.
[Woman] We tried to treat the crops and use fertilisers but nothing helped.
[Woman 2] Loans increasing, debts getting bigger...
[Woman 2] People from the bank come, and farmers commit suicide out of fear.
[Vijay Jawandhia, Landowner] I have about 50 acres of land,
I'm the biggest land owner of that village.
[Vijay] If this shirt which I put on,
is made from three metres of cloth,
and this three metres of cotton cloth,
requires not more than 200 or 250 grams of cotton lint.
[Vijay] Now if this pure cotton cloth, this cotton shirt,
is to be bought in Europe or America,
it will be not less than 10 or 15 dollars per shirt.
[Vijay] Now out of this 10 or 15 dollars,
only half a dollar comes to the cotton producer.
[Vijay] My argument is this,
we are producing cotton here, we are getting only half a dollar,
[Vijay] Mumbai gets 3 or 4 dollars,
and European or American economies are growing by 15 dollars.
[Vijay] Their economy is growing by 15 dollars,
[Vijay] Mumbai's economy's growing by 3 or 4 dollars,
and our economy is growing by only a half dollar. Why this? Where does our profit go?
[Alexis] This looks like a good quality cotton.
[Alexis] Should be fair trade at that price.
[Alexis] 375 dollars - oh my God! Here's a label.
[Alexis] Monsanto has created monopolistic control over the cotton seed market in India.
[Alexis] They are depriving farmers of the choice as to what types of seeds to produce.
[Alexis] Only Bt cotton is available.
[Alexis] Bt cotton requires many inputs.
[Alexis] It's incredibly expensive.
[Alexis] It's 8,000 per cent more expensive than normal cotton seed.
[Alexis] But normal cotton seed is largely unavailable to Indian farmers
because of Monsanto's control of the seed market.
MONSANTO PROMOTIONAL VIDEO, YOUTUBE
[GEO] Bridgewater, USA
[Jim] "Greenwashing" is a technique deployed by corporations
to try to make people think that they are actually "green"
or good for the environment
and the biotech industry is somebody that utilizes that and it's disingenuous.
[Jim] Monsanto likes to present itself
as the friend of farmers but what friend goes about suing other family farmers?
FROM MONSANTO REPRESENTATIVE I SPOKE WITH YOUR CORRESPONDENT HERE IN DELHI. I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE ALREADY IN TOUCH WITH MONSANTO FOR YOUR SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO THEM.
THEY CAN ANSWER THE BELOW QUESTIONS. PLEASE MAIL ME IF YOU MAY WANT TO ASK ANY MORE QUESTIONS.
FROM INDIAN CORRESPONDENT. UNFORTUNATELY THE INTERVIEW WAS CANCELLED. I DON'T KNOW THE REASON.
[Editor] No one will say,
'Yes, we're making a fortune from people dying.'
[Editor] They'll say, quite the contrary,
they're helping to implement modern technologies?
[Editor] Yes, exactly. They'll say:
'Sorry, we offer them a bright future and lots of money,
they just don't know how to use it.'
[Translator] Who did the most work at the farm?
[Kumara Swamy, Widower] My wife. It used to be me,
but after the operation I can only do light work.
[Translator] Why did she commit suicide?
[Kumara] Several creditors came to talk to her.
[Translator] What did they want?
[Kumara] They asked her...
to pay off the debt as soon as possible,
but we had no money.
[Translator] That's why she did what she did.
[Man 1] We'll use this cart to sell the cotton... [Translator] Where?
[Man 1] At Warangal market.
[Naveen] This market started by ... and this is one of the biggest cotton markets in India.
[Naveen] If your buyers will come here, they see the quality of the cotton and then...
[Naveen] If the quality is not that high grade, they will decrease the price and if the quality is high grade, they will be...
[Man 1] This cotton's small, feel the difference?
[Man 1] The state-set price is 4,050 rupees, 50 less than quality cotton.
[Man 1] Come here, I'll show you.
[Man 1] Try this cotton.
[Man 1] See, this is good quality.
[Man 1] Compare it to the small cotton,
you can feel the difference.
[Man 1] If the quality's good the seed won't come away from the pod.
[Prabhakar Yelagonda, Farmer] Here's my cargo, brother.
[Man] Where?
[Prabhakar] Here.
[Prabhakar] Right.
[Man] Weigh it, please.
[Man 2] In my opinion, farmers won't make a profit this year.
[Prabhakar] Let's calculate what I spent per acre this year.
[Prabhakar] Seeds: 10,000 rupees,
tractors and other equipment: 15-20,000.
[Prabhakar] Renting bulls: 1,000 rupees.
[Translator] So how much have you invested in the land this year?
[Prabhakar] So... 20, 30, 15, 10, 10...
[Prabhakar] 90,000 rupees altogether.
[Translator] And how much did you make?
[Prabhakar] Four times five... 20,000.
[Prabhakar] I have to think about how to pay my debts.
[Prabhakar] I think I'll have to sell my land or property
to be able to sow the fields the next year.
[Editor] Why don't they understand,
that if they buy this GM cotton,
and these pesticides,
they still lose out?
[Editor] It's a vicious circle.
[Editor] These farmers can't imagine growing anything but this GM cotton.
[Editor] It needs a huge effort,
by thousands of people like Naveen,
to talk about these tragedies.
[Editor] Until that time, these poor farmers
will continue getting into debt and drinking pesticide.