Hundreds of farmers and social activists today staged a satyagraha, protesting against genetically modified crops' field trial of an American company here on the occasion of "Shaheed Divas". The protest ended with a decision of making a committee having representatives of farmers and activists and a meeting with Mahatma Phule Krushi Vidyapeeth's (MPKV) officials on April 2. Farmers and NGOs have been protesting against the open air experiment of American seed company Monsanto on genetically modified corn being conducted in the B Farm of Mahatma Phule Krushi Vidyapeeth here.
Since the trial began on December 8 last year, question about bio-safety and corporate taking over farming are being raised by farmers. Protesters demanded that political parties should pay heed to the growing resistance against unsafe food and corporate take over of farming and asked all parties to clear their stand on the issue immediately.
Vijay Jawandhia of Shetkari Sanghatan said, "Monsanto is a criminal corporation known to have sued or sent to jail scores of farmers elsewhere for doing what farmers around the world have done for millennia- saving their seeds."