Of the many horror stories we hear about GMOs, few are as heart-rending as the one about how nearly 300,000 Indian farmers have killed themselves over failed cotton crops. What’s also horrible is that the story is a complete fabrication.
Typical of the tales told by anti-GMO activists, the chief villain here is Monsanto who deceived farmers into buying Bt cotton seeds. The farmers found themselves overwhelmed by debt and began to take their own lives.
There have also been several articles and studies over the years that have sought to debunk the connection between GMO crops and farmer suicides. Anoop Sadanandan’s research revealed that most of the suicides have taken place in five of India’s 28 states — not all of which even grow cotton. Indeed, Sadanandan couldn’t find any meaningful correlation between cotton crops and the states with high suicide rates. The answer lies with banking reforms instead.
How many people will take note of Sadanandan’s study? An evil corporation dumping genetic monstrosities on impoverished farmers makes for a much sexier narrative than the nuances of financial reforms in the banking sector.
And therein lies the real tragedy of farmer suicides in India. Anti-GMO activists, by hijacking this story to cultivate sympathy for their own agenda, are distracting us from the solutions that could actually work.
Read the full, original article: The GMO Mass Suicides Are a Myth
