Warangal/New Delhi: Controversy surrounding the cultivation of genetically modified crops has taken a new turn with Bt Cotton suspected to be a near-total failure.

Bt Cotton is a variety of cotton crop, which is believed to be resistant to insects that affect the cotton crops, according to Monsanto-Mahyco, the company that has developed this variety. Bt Cotton has been in the forefront of a major controversy over the last few years with environmentalists and huge agri-based companies arguing about the implications of the usage of genetically modified organisms in agricultural practices.

Greenpeace India (an NGO) claims that V S Rao, Minister for Agriculture, government of Andhra Pradesh has declared that Bt Cotton farmers have not experienced very positive and encouraging results.

Raja Mouli, a farmer of Nagaram Village, Warangal District, is believed to be cursing the temptation that led him to experiment with Bt Cotton, "The official report has only confirmed what I knew all along. I have experienced the failure of the crop first-hand. Now that the truth is out, I want other farmers to be saved from this disaster - the government should stop these criminal companies at least in time for the next season."

In personal interviews with Greenpeace, Agricultural Officers from Warangal district have confirmed that Bt Cotton has been a near complete failure. In Parakala, for instance, a whopping 95 per cent of Bt Cotton farmers have reported losses, similarly in Chityal.

Ironically, Bt Cotton was promoted as an alternative in Warangal, which was showcased as one of the hotbeds for excessive usage of pesticides and farmer suicides. The picture that is now emerging proves otherwise.

P Damoder, Secretary of Sarvodaya Youth Organisation, Warangal, adds, "The government must force the company to pay compensation. The farmers in this district cannot take these setbacks - any further deceit at the hands of companies like Mahyco-Monsanto is sure to instigate a fresh spate of farmer suicides. It is very urgent that the government steps in to stop the ongoing 'bookings' for Bollguard (Bt Cotton seeds) and prevent the aggressive false publicity that the company is indulging in. They may have more money, but it is upto us, and our government, to see that the farmers know the truth about Bt Cotton failures."

Greenpeace has been campaigning at the state, national and international level to call for a complete rejection of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), Bt Cotton prime amongst the crops that are crippling the farmers agronomically, and putting the ecology at risk too.