HYDERABAD: The Confederation of Indian Farmers' Associations has hailed the Government's decision to file a case against Mahyco Monsanto Biotech Ltd before the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission and offered help in the fight.

Sanat Mehta, chairman, at a press conference here on Thursday, said he was fighting Monsanto for charging a royalty of Rs.1,250 from farmers for the last three years. He had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue. "I am happy that Andhra Pradesh took the decision to file a case. It is the first State to take such a step," he observed.

He said the average production of cotton/hectare in Gujarat was higher than that in the world, but farmers were unable to export the produce to developed countries because of the subsidies given by their Governments.

Faulting the recent WTO agreement following which the developed nations concurred to phase out subsidies, he remarked sarcastically that Commerce Minister Kamal Nath had "brought" a post-dated cheque.

Though China was planning to import 1.5 crore bales of cotton, the Government was not able to convince the neighbour to purchase Indian cotton, Mr. Mehta said.

`Drop in outlay'

The confederation wanted justice for farmers and that could be rendered only if the investment increased substantially in agriculture. The outlay for agriculture and irrigation had come down from 34 per cent in the first Plan to 10.6 per cent in the 10th Plan. The problems of farmers would not be solved by giving power, seed and fertiliser. The 34 per cent Plan allocation should be restored for farmers to survive.

Other demands

He demanded separate budget for agriculture, a seed Act, steps to revive the cooperative sector, standards for organic farming and a chain of cold storage horticultural plants.

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