on january 2, 2006, the Andhra Pradesh (ap) agriculture department petitioned the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (mrtpc), New Delhi, against the multinational seed giant Monsanto Biotech Limited.

The ap government has blamed Monsanto for charging "abnormally high prices' from farmers for Bt cotton seeds on which it has global monopoly. Leading seed traders Mahyco (licensed by Monsanto to produce Bt cotton in India), Pro-Agro, Raasi and Nuzvid are mentioned as respondents in the petition filed by the ap government.

The petition says that Monsanto was paying a procurement price of just Rs 200 to Rs 250 for 750 gm of Bt cotton seed to seed-growers, but it sold the same to cotton-growers at Rs 1,850 per packet for 450 gm. Of this, Monsanto holds back Rs 1,250 per packet towards