On India’s Farms, a Plague of Suicide &(US peddling of modified seeds)

[rodeodance]

September 19, 2006
On India’s Farms, a Plague of Suicide
By SOMINI SENGUPTA

BHADUMARI, India

.......Whether it was debt, shame or some other privation that drove Mr. Shende to kill himself rests with him alone. But his death was by no means an isolated one, and in it lay an alarming reminder of the crisis facing the Indian farmer.

Across the country in desperate pockets like this one, 17,107 farmers committed suicide in 2003, the most recent year for which government figures are available. Anecdotal reports suggest that the high rates are continuing.

........

Mr. Singh’s government, which has otherwise emerged as a strong ally of America, has become one of the loudest critics in the developing world of Washington’s $18 billion a year in subsidies to its own farmers, which have helped drive down the price of cotton for farmers like Mr. Shende.

At the same time, frustration is building in India with American multinational companies peddling costly, genetically modified seeds. They have made deep inroads in rural India — a vast and alluring market — bringing new opportunities but also new risks as Indian farmers pile up debt.

[Deja Q]

1. Well, is India a friend or foe?

They can't have it both ways, though I'll give 'em B+ for effort.

[Sequoia]

2. Link?

[acmejack]

3. Google search time.07 seconds

Try it yourself it's really easy! Or are you that technology challenged? btw, it's Link, please?

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/world/asia/19india.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[physioex]

4. It's a double edged sword.......

IT workers in this country lose their jobs due to cheap labor and farmer there lose their jobs due to subsidized cotton from the US......

[bhikkhu]

5. I talked about thjis with a friend from Mumbai recently....

He said it is true, and very complicated to explain. The difficulty of low crop prices is one aspect, another is sometimes predatory and unregulated lending practices against farmlands, another is a low standard of rural education, another is the vitality of the large cities - all the young want to leave the land, and most do.

So what is left is aging farmers, alone, seeing little future or purpose. Why farm a product that can be bought cheaper, shipped from elsewhere, until one is eventually rendered homeless?

[samsingh]

6. modified seeds are a huge conspiracy and a monopoly