Cotton for my Shroud is a documentary feature that attempts to document the truths behind the suicides of cotton farmers in Maharashtra. It follows the lives of the farmers who spend nearly 500 times the amount they used to spend on regular seeds, fertilizers and pesticides; on genetically - engineered seeds manufactured by Monsanto which provide fewer yields.
As is shown here, Farming families have resorted to different approaches to relieve themselves of their poverty. Since cotton is essentially a cash crop, these families have to rely on cotton sales for their daily bread, since they no longer cultivate food crops. Some replace cotton and move into soya bean cultivation – which is just as unprofitable. In certain cases, entire villages have agreed t sell everything they own to move to the outskirts of cities, just to make ends meet.The ones who can’t afford any of these – kill themselves.
The film also tries to explore how corporate entities with lobbying power, fully-sanctioned police brutality, and Government policies that have turned self-reliant farmers into beggars work together to ensure cotton farming will soon be replaced by Food Production Corporations instead of traditional farmers.
By Rohan
By Rohan