Bt cotton and farmers' suicide not linked: Joshi

Protesting farmers from Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, led by activist Sharad Joshi, on Tuesday strongly contested any linkage between Bt cotton and farmers suicide in this cotton belt.

The cotton growers during their protest here also opposed the visit of a Parliamentary committee on Agriculture to the region. Joshi told reporters that they have complained to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar about the visit of Parliamentary committee on Agriculture led by Basudeb Acharya. Some eminent farm scientists including C D Mayee, President of Indian Society for Cotton Improvement and N Seetharama, executive director, ABLE-AG, also joined the protesting farmers.