Many Indian farmers face ruin because the genetically modified BT cotton from Monsanto, first approved in 2002, rendered them a disastrous crop. Hoping for higher crop yields and fewer chemicals, the farmers were persuaded to purchase the genetically modified seeds at quadruple the price. Yet the anticipated bumper crop failed to materialize. Disease and insect-ridden plants forced the farmers to use even more of the expensive chemicals, driving their bank debts higher. For many farmers the only escape from these accumulated debts is suicide. In all of India over 2000 farmers committed suicide in the last few years.

For more than twenty years Vandana Shiva, author and environmental advocate with a Ph.D. in particle physics, has dedicated herself to ensuring the rights of India’s small farmers and maintaining bio-diversity. “Monsanto – get out of India” is the mantra she uses to challenge the agro-chemical multis.