Bhubaneswar, Oct. 27: Farmers from 1,200 villages in Orissa have urged chief minister Naveen Patnaik for a legislation to ban the sale, trade and cultivation of all genetically modified (GM) crops.

The peasants have requested Naveen to take action so that farmers cultivating Bt brinjal are not pushed to extremes due to crop failure as some of the farmers in the state did in the recent past.

Petitioners have pointed out that brinjals are a source of income for many small-time farmers in Orissa. Explaining that Bt brinjal and Bt cotton poses health hazards, farmers wrote that: “For the first three years, the crop gives a marginally higher yield. But, in the fourth year, the yield usually comes down, leading to a loss in net agricultural income.”

Not only does the yield lower, a pest called American Bollworm that the genetically modified crop is supposed to be resistant to, gets immuned to the crop. The Bt toxin also kills friendly insects leading to further pest attacks and hence more expenses on pesticides.

If Bt Brinjal is approved for commercial cultivation in Orissa, farmers will lose traditional varieties and face the same fate as that of Bt cotton farmers all across the country. Since Brinjal is a food crop, farmers will be affected by its toxicity directly, the memorandum said.

In Orissa, Bt cotton seeds are already being traded through illegal means for four years now. “The matter is urgent as now its introduction has been approved as well,” said Debjeet Sarangi, an anti-GM activist, adding that Kerala chief minister has written to Prime Minister explaining the need to ban GM crops in the country.