BANGALORE, August 13, 2013
Sharath S. Srivatsa
‘Quality of cotton is determined by length, strength, appearance, Bt cotton has all these qualities’
The Indian flag made from organic cotton.
The Indian tricolour may have lost its indigenous connection with the ‘desi’ cotton variety, with the use of Bt cotton — a proprietary technology of an American seed company.
Jayadhar, a popular variety of cotton grown in Karnataka that was also earlier used in making flags, has been replaced by Bt cotton.
Now, flag-making units at Bengeri in Hubli city and Garaga in Dharwad district, which meet the nationwide demand for the tricolour, have been using wholly or partly the khadi derived from Bt cotton.
“Quality of cotton is determined by length, strength and appearance, and Bt cotton provides all these qualities. The national flag needs to be stronger. We mainly process Bt cotton and buy other varieties if they are available,” an official at the Central Sliver Plant in Chitradurga said.
The staple in indigenous varieties is shorter than Bt cotton, the official explained on the choice of cotton.
The plant, a unit of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, supplies about 1,000 kg cleaned (after a process called roving to remove dust particles and short fibres) cotton to Garaga Kshetriya Seva Sangh in Dharwad that till 2008 was the sole flag-making unit in the country. The cotton is then hand spun to yarn using a charaka and woven into khadi in handloom. However, sangha secretary Suresh V. Davande said that he was not aware of the Bt cotton being supplied.
“It is unfortunate that the cotton developed by an American company is being used to make the Indian flag” when there are many indigenous cotton varieties that were earlier used for flag making,” said Krishnaprasad of Sahaja Samruddha, which is trying to revive local cotton varieties.
GM Free India activists have urged the Prime Minister to hoist the flag made from organic cotton this Independence Day.
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