Mr Ramesh faced the ire of farmers during a public consultation organised by the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA).
In all, 18 leaders of farmers’ associations were taken into custody and sent to the Kanchanbagh police station for disrupting the meeting.
During the day, hundreds of farmers, retired agriculture professors, representatives of various organisations, supporters of the Left and the BJP barged into the venue raising slogans against the government and Mr Ramesh.
Though the minister tried in vain to pacify the agitators, the farmers alleged that the government was trying to take a decision to pacify multi-national companies.
The AP Rythu Sangham president, Mr K. Rama Krishna, said, “Introduction of Bt Brinjal is detrimental to the interests of farmers as they will be forced to buy the seeds at higher prices. The agitation will continue till the government says no to Bt Brinjal.”
“We will also stage a protest in Bengaluru on February 6,” he added.
The All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha general secretary, Mr G. Diwakar, said, “We are facing many problems due to the introduction of Bt cotton. Bt brinjal will ruin the fertility of soil and lead to diseases.”
Mr Ramesh, however, said, “There is no pressure on me from anyone including the Prime Minister on the issue. The file came to me on October, 2009. But I did not clear it since I wanted to know the opinions of farmers and scientists.”
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