GMO Cotton Explained to My Mother

The column "... explained to my mother" is back. Last time we talked about Monsanto, this time we're tackling GMO cotton. And especially India, which is the fourth largest producer of GMO cotton, called "the white revolution".

Indeed, we all consume cotton. We all have a cotton garment in our wardrobe, and you say "no, but the fiber is natural, it's not chemical" - I allow myself to smile.

GMO cotton, which is supposed to meet our demand, is in fact a real calamity.

Did you know that in 20 years in India, approximately 290,000 farmers have committed suicide? This figure is simply enormous. They didn't commit suicide for nothing; they committed suicide because of Bt cotton. And since life is a party, they usually drink a bottle of pesticides when they act on it.

Why, you ask me? Why does a product that was supposed to double/triple yields drive farmers to suicide?

Simply because they had to go into debt to buy these seeds. Like 8000% more expensive. Imagine for a product whose yield is not even satisfactory.

The worst part is that this GMO cotton also requires pesticides. And pesticides come at a price. So we are accumulating even more over-indebtedness. (But we are still producing a product harmful to the skin and the earth, but no one talks about that).

But it's not over (yes, like in the commercial). Bt cotton needs a real irrigation system, which on the one hand leads to soil depletion, but above all (and this is where it gets cynical) this cotton is widely sold in arid areas. Well, yes, it's funny to sell a product 8000 times the price, guaranteeing you just have to spray it with pesticides and then you'll get rich. We know the reality is quite different.

Except that we are far from it. GMO cotton has even lost all resistance to the pink bollworm, so it still needs more pesticides.

But what are the alternatives?

Good question. The White Revolution didn't work, can we believe in a Green Revolution?

This is also where it's funny: India is one of the leading producers of organic cotton. But as you know, the yield of organic cotton is lower than that of Bt cotton; additionally, the land must also be left fallow, and one must accept that if there are worms, there will be losses.

But personally, I don't want to wear a product full of pesticides, which also causes the death of thousands of people.

Otherwise, there's this very good France 24 report, about ten minutes long, which really shows the calamity that GMO cotton is in India.