The people inside the venue made their stance against Bt Brinjal clear

Due to the tight security around the venue we were not allowed to interact with Jairam Ramesh when he arrived. Although he was quite interested in speaking to the four brinjal mascots standing behind a well maintained line of control by the Police. Throughout the consultations the brinjal mascots volunteered to roam around outside the auditorium, engaging anti-Bt Brinjal protestors as well as Bt Brinjal supporters.

After an hour of chaos, the consultations began. Farmers were called to talk first, followed by scientists, NGOs and other interested individuals. A lot of farmers stated their reasons for wanting Bt Brinjal. Most of the reasons centered around the need to eliminate the high costs and harmful effects of using pesticides on their brinjals. They vociferously denied allegations of being bought out by Monsanto.

The farmers speaking against Bt Brinjal highlighted the need for saving our seeds from the hands of corporate seed giants like Monsanto and argued for pesticide free farming. The session finally ended with 14 farmers speaking in favour, and 12 against.

The session with the scientists was a little more sobre. The Minister was able to call on about 20 scientists. While there was opposition to some of the facts presented by anti-Bt scientists, the data that was presented on the toxicity levels, nutrition and efficacy of clinical trials being done on the crop was largely undisputed. Approximately 13 scientists spoke against Bt and five spoke for it.

It was indeed heartening to see huge majority of the scientists opposing the introduction of Bt brinjal in a city like Hyderabad which a seat of scientific excellence, reiterating the fact that the fears against GM food are not merely emotional but stem from scientific concerns.

The NGOs spoke next. Their stand was predominantly anti-Bt Brinjal. After four NGO representatives spoke, two doctors who were vehemently against Bt Brinjal were allowed to speak.

Though a little disappointed with the protests and chaos during the consultation Jairam Ramesh announced that he understands that there are valid concerns on Bt Brinjal and and he will keep that in mind while making his decision public on February 10th.

Over to Bangalore now where the last of the public consultations is happening.

Signing off
Team Hyderabad

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On 19th January we held a public engagement activity at the Erragadda Rythu Bazaar. This is one of the biggest vegetable markets in Hyderabad and buyers and vendors flock this market in large numbers everyday.

Our goal was to talk to the vendors about the Bt Brinjal issue and make sure they are aware of the problems with Bt Brinjal. We started on our little activity by dispersing in groups of two or three to talk to brinjal vendors.

Vendor at the bazar showing his support against Bt Brinjal

Among the various interactions we had, our volunteers spoke to a farmer whose cow had fallen sick after eating Bt Cotton leaves. As soon as he heard about Bt Brinjal, he vehemently opposed the introduction and wanted to show his opposition by tying a headband. Another couple we interacted with wanted to spread more awareness about the issue among friends and relatives.

After two hours, when we felt had spoken to almost all the brinjal sellers, we had a small de-briefing with the volunteers. We were pleased to find out that they were more than happy to participate in the public consultation and would also help us in recruiting more people to attend it.

Overall, it was a fruitful day. We had good conversations and captured good pictures, for the photo wall we’ll display at the consultation. After some rest we’ll start getting ready for the big day of the consultation here.

That’s all for today!

We’ll keep you updated

Hyderabad team

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