Wowee - boy do I have a lot to tell you! Today we went with such nice people on a roundabout tour all around (well w/in 2 hrs.) of Hyderabad. It was a great day! Very exhausting, but great all the same. We learned a ton about agriculture, cotton, rice, Bt crops. . . Pioneer, Dupont, and of course - India - as always. Ambassador Quinn set up this whole tour possibility for us - and it dominoed from there. So Claire and I got to go and then Christen, our CA friend, got to accompany us. It was a fun day - and a great change in pace also! We got to first go to the cotton farms, next the Pioneer seed facilities, and lastly, the DuPont research center.
So, first things first. This morn., I had a great filling b-fast of omelete w/ tomatoes 'n onions, hardboiled egg n a chapati. (Chapati = not typical Indian b-fast food at all, but I get an extra at supper to go if they have 'em so I can have it with my omelete roll-up style!) :) Then we got a phone call from Christen that the car was here early - so we rushed on up and headed out for what was sure to be a day full of new experiences. We began by meeting the HR personnel from Pioneer who came along to pick us up (a driver always drives here) and then was with us throughout the entire day. He was so nice! (Although, we first needed to find where they were parked before getting off campus!) Anyway, soon enough we were on our way!
We first went to the cotton fields - which I didn't know if it would be all that stimulating. Well, I was wrong! The fields were my favorite part! We asked a hundred questions and got to see so much - not to mention our hilarious garb and stomping through all that mud was a good workout! We stayed here about 1/2 hr. long - throwing off our meticulously planned schedule, but we made up for it later. (It was so lucky we came in the morn. when it was beginning to rain, b/c if we would have gone here in the afternoon instead, we woulda been slipping and sliding in that mud mess!)
Some observations from the farm:
1) Lots of laborers are employed here - I did the little bow thing to one of them and she did it right back to me!! It was so cool - it is like, when you are visiting another country, you really don't need to embrace, appreciate, or respect their culture at all. But, honestly, you will never truly experience the country if you don't. I didn't need to do the little bow thing to her, but she was just tickled I did! That was heart-warming :)
2) Our tour guides were awesome. So so so wonderful and open to answering alllllll of our questions. They didn't expect us to be any experts on cotton or anything and explained even basic things like how the crop pollinates. They were simply wonderful.
3) I loved to see the true genetic varietals here. These cotton crops we got to see in the diff. varieties part of the farm are crops w/ diff. resistances already intact from Mother Nature! Some require very little water, depending on where they are intended for and originated from. We saw some for Asia, N. America, a special Egytian variety, etc. It was so cool how big and beautiful and unique they all were. I love the different varieties - makes me think of home. Thinking of the great day we had at SeedSavers in Decorah with Mom, Dad, Nan, and Caleb :)
4) They have just signed deal to partner w/ Monsanto and introduce Round-up into the genes. . . there are resistances beginning in the US to Round-up b/c of its overuseage and now India will follow in our misguided footsteps.
5) Mechanization is something they predict in the next 10 to 15 yrs. for India. That means no more laborers in fields, closer crops, harvested by machines. . . my concern is: #1, yes, there exists a trend moving from ag. work to industrial work or urban migration in India, but people still need jobs! And mechanization limits that possibility. #2, where are the farmers going to get the access to collateral/credit to afford mechanization?!!? Tractors!?!? Farmers in India are happy to have 1 acre to farm. Mechanization would mean that the farmers will be left with no choice but to lease out their land to corporations. And then we get these corporate farms which we have seen take over the U.S. The richness of India's agriculture and an integral part of their culture - especially in Indian villages - is how close the food is to the farmers. Subsistence agriculture is beautiful, but now will be headed in a new direction. A sad direction I am afraid.
6) After taking off my mud boots and putting my sandals back on, my legs got 10x lighter!! That was a cool feeling! We sadly returned our garb, thanked the kind man, and headed onto the next place.
We headed to Pioneer Seed - where you will see no - NO - no pictures from b/c cameras were strictly prohibited. They made sure we left those all in the vehicle! Boo-hoo. Claire suspected we would run into that dilemma. She was right! Anyway, you really missed some priceless photos b/c we got donned w/ helmets, face masks, goggles, gloves, and Pioneer umbrellas of course. Not to mention I realized after the entire tour that I had this hair which was sticking out horizontal b/c of the goggles the whole time! No wonder we go those looks. . . no, I guess that was probably b/c of the 3 white girls parading around!
Thoughts from Pioneer:
1) Everyone working here really believes in what they are doing. One man w/ us has been here for 18 yrs., another scientist we met: 24 yrs. They describe it as a family business - very different from most. Informal - they wear button-ups but not ties. . .
2) It was big! and interesting! We had such a great tour guide - traipsing all around with our trusty umbrellas. No sunshine to worry about on this field trip day!
3) We saw the packaging of seed bags. Very interesting. So the bags are packaged in these smaller bags and then 10 bags are put into one standard feed bag. Because of the ag. practices in India (small-holder farms), the marketing of course needs to be different. A large farmer may need more (like normal sized bag), but for the smaller ones, they will cut open big bags and sell the smaller ones at the market.
4) They got us Domino pizza for lunch!! Awww, it was so sweet - b/c we are from U.S.! I actually had packed a lunch from ICRISAT - and was happy I did b/c I don't think Dominoes is too conducive to boosting immune system! They were actually happy to see me eating packed lunch b/c it was Indian food of course!! They were glad we all enjoy the Indian cuisine so much. I really enjoyed our tour guide - he was so so nice!
5) Back on schedule and headed to DuPont!
Here at DuPont - cameras were not on the sign for prohibited items, although after reviewing the list, Claire had to leave her taser in the vehicle. So I pulled out my cam., and took a couple great pics. of the DuPont building. Then they through us in the chamber. Well, they thought about it. In reality, the others just promised to take no pics. and they let us keep our cameras. We actually only got to see a conference room here - so I don't know how many deep dark secrets I could have found! But we got to meet the director of the whole DuPont and he was a really nice, personable man.
Thoughts from DuPont:
1) Well here we really talked the most about GM crops vs. varietals and had some interesting discourse. Or rather, we listened to 1.5 hr. presentation and then had 0.5 hrs. to ask ?'s. We asked some good ones all right.
2) Two I asked dealt w/ my research study. In my state and district of Maharashtra, India, farmer suicides are a huge issue. There have been failures of Bt cotton. So what happened is everyone pushed Bt cotton - telling farmers this Bt cotton was the cure-all solution to whatever ailed their crop. In reality, Bt cotton protects from 1 pest. Just 1. So this propoganda was pushed, farmers took the bait and risked their livelihoods to invest in Bt cotton. This meant more loans and then when Bt cotton failed, they had even greater debt, etc., etc. + other factors, bleak situation, suicide. He actually was one of the people who brought Bt cotton to India - so that was interesting to hear his approach. :)
3) My farmers spoke of how the ancient varietals could be stored for a few more yrs. than the GM crops, but now the surplus crops will spoil sooner. I didn't get a comment on this ?, but we were running short on time and we were ready to head back to ICRISAT anyway. Christen asked great ?'s also, about whether they do environmental research about implications of Bt cotton on environment. Soil degradation, etc. The answer was no. Also she asked about the decreased yields over time w/ GM crops, and we didn't get a clear answer on that. The 1st year, a 20% increase is guaranteed, but after that, no guarantees. The yield falls from there.
4) One last topic mentioned was the time factor. He explained how w/ any technology, it does not last forever. People need to buy a new washing machine, and in the same way, these GM varieties only last 6-7 yrs. before the next one needs to be introduced. That was interesting b/c seeds are something that have been around for - ev -er ! They don't seem like something that should need to be replaced like a synthetic washer should. I guess, synthetic seed. . .
5) All in all, it was a fantastic, wet, chilly, really great, informative, exciting, and quality day spent with Christen, Claire, and all those we encountered. I am so thankful to all who helped arrange this. (Like Rosana from ICRISAT and Lisa from WFP and Amb. Quinn of course. . . all from the companies too. . . ) Anyway, I was so happy Claire could come b/c it would not have been nearly as great without her! Not much is . . . Awww, sad moment. She leaves on Monday night!!
But, new news from my end of the woods. Presentation is now this upcoming week! Yikers! Big big big work to get done! And my powerpoint was going to be developed this wk, but is now going to be worked on this wkend I guess! In our correspondence, my mentor told me she is excited to see of my progress on the powerpoint on Monday. . . so . . . about that. Better make some progress, huh?!!? :)
So, busy busy girl over here. Headed to bed soon and very soon now. Tomorrow = Saturday.
Wake-up, b-fast, work on report, head out to Hyderabad, are some of the plans for the day :)
Much work and fun to be had in India.
Good Night!
p.s. Don't think I was gonna keep my picture album from today a secret from you!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=235117&id=632933553&1=ee94b17419 :)
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