India’s Supreme Court has upheld an order by a state government asking US biotech giant Monsanto’s Indian arm to cut the price of its genetically-modified Bt Cotton seeds, reports said on Tuesday.
The southern state of Andhra Pradesh had last month asked Mahyco Monsanto not to charge more than 750 rupees ($16) for 450g of cotton seeds.
“We are not inclined at this juncture to interfere with the order passed by the Andhra Pradesh government on May 29,” a Supreme Court bench said in its order Monday, the Indian Express reported.
Monsanto had cut its royalty fee by 30% to 900 rupees ($20) per 450g bag of GM cotton seeds in March amid a growing controversy over its tight grip on the Indian GM cotton seed market.
Despite the reduction, an Indian monopolies regulator gave the company a month to further cut back prices in India to bring them into line with those prevailing in China.
The regulator, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission, found Monsanto was manipulating the rates, which activists say has contributed partly to a high suicide rate among desperately poor Indian farmers.
Thousands of farmers in several states, including in Andhra Pradesh, have taken their lives because they have been unable to repay debts due to failing crops and high prices.
The Supreme Court is due to hear an appeal by Monsanto challenging the price cut as ordered by the Indian regulator.
Mahyco Monsanto’s cotton was launched in 2002 in India and planted by more than a million farmers in 2005, the company says.
It says a survey showed that yields from the seed were 64% higher compared with conventional cotton and farmers also had to use less pesticide. – AFP