CHILD LABOUR AND TRANS-NATIONAL SEED COMPANIES IN HYBRID COTTONSEED PRODUCTION IN ANDHRA PRADESH Davuluri Venkateswarlu* Study commissioned by INDIA COMMITTEE OF NETHERLANDS [ICN] THE NETHERLANDS * Director, Glocal Research and Consultancy Services, Hyderabad (e.mail
[email protected]) 1 CONTENTS Introduction 4 SECTION-I 8 Nature of work and terms and conditions of employment SECTION-II 14 Growth of hybrid cottonseed production- role of private seed industry and MNCs SECTION-III 25 Production of cottonseeds-linkages between companies and seed farmers SECTION-IV 30 Recent Interventions against child labour and response from MNCS References 35 2 List of tables Table: 1 Quantity of Hybrid Seed Produced in Andhra Pradesh 1999-2000 Table: 2 Growth in area and quantity of hybrid cottonseed produced in Andhra Pradesh during 1990s. Table 3: Extent of area and quantity of Hybrid cottonseeds (public varieties) certified by the AP state seed certification Agency Table:4 Approximate area and number of children employed in hybrid cottonseed farms in Andhra Pradesh Table 5: Approximate area and number of children employed in hybrid cottonseed farms producing seed for Multinational seed companies in AP, 1999-2000 Table 6: Top 10 Seed Companies in the World (Ranked by sales in 2000) Table 7: Per kg. Cost of production, procurement and marketing prices of cottonseeds of HLL, Syngenta and Mahyco-Monsanto, 2001-2002 Abbreviations AP Andhra Pradesh APSSCA Andhra Pradesh State Seed Certification Agency BT Cotton Bacillus Thuringiensis cotton CRS Catholic