Farmers’ opposition to Monsanto and genetically modified crops in India goes back to before the eggplant controversy, and traces its roots at least partly to an earlier controversy about genetically modified cotton. After successfully introducing GM cotton to India, Monsanto was besieged by bad publicity when a failed crop allegedly caused farmers to commit suicide. Crop failures are common in India, but when the GM cotton crop failed, the farmers growing it were saddled with enormous debt. By some counts, the suicide toll related to GM crop failure is in the hundreds of thousands, though some observers have challenged that notion. The company has also been accused of using child labour in its cotton seed production operations. More here.