Events
& Issues
New Delhi, 12 October 2016
GM Crops
ANSWER
TO FOOD SECURITY?
By Dhurjati
Muklherjee
It is significant to note that 109
Nobel laureates recently signed a letter urging the well-known environmental
NGO, Greenpeace, to end its opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
and called upon governments across the world to reject the NGOs campaign that
opposed biotechnological opposition in agriculture. This appeal is indeed
important for a country like India,
where over 60 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture and there is
an imperative need to increase production and productivity.
The letter clearly stated:
“Scientific and regulatory agencies around the world have repeatedly and
consistently found crops and foods improved through biotechnology to be as safe
as, if not safer, than those derived from any other method of production”.
The scientists regretted the fact
that the campaign led many to stop its efforts to block introduction of
genetically engineered crops but it noted that “there has never been a single
confirmed case of negative health outcome for humans or animals from
consumption”. Richard J. Roberts, who is currently chief scientific officer of
the New England Biolabs, in a recent interview to The Washington Post, stated that Greenpeace and some of their
allies deliberately “went out of their way to scare people. It was a way for
them to raise money”.
In tune with the above opinion, a
technical body of the Central Government of GM mustard stated that it is safe
for human and animal health and doesn’t pose any threat to biodiversity. The
Environment Ministry recently made this report public, wherein it clearly
stated: “From the toxicity and allergenicity studies, it is concluded that GE
mustard, the parental lines and Dhara Mustard Hybrid-II (DMH-II) doesn’t raise
any public health and safety concern”. But recently the RSS has pressurised the
Modi Government not to allow GM mustard in the country.
Meanwhile, a report stated that the
acreage for GM crops declined in 2015 though by a mere one per cent as commodity
prices were low with farmers planting less corn, soyabeans and canola of all
types. Only three countries – US, Brazil
and Argentina
-- account for over three-quarters of the total global acreage.
GM crops have been a contentious
issue, at least in India.
While one section is of the opinion that it could address hunger issues and
bring down prices of food and commodities, the other group argues it was
dangerous for environment and the health of its citizens.
Five years ago, India was a
hostile place for researchers testing genetically modified (GM) crops. Its
government barred the commercial planting of a transgenic aubergine (a
vegetable locally known as brinjal) after protests from anti-GM activists. Then
it gave State governments the power to veto transgenic-crop field trials. The
result: an effective moratorium on such trials. “We felt as if we had come up
against a brick wall, and might as well chuck it in and do something else,”
says molecular biologist Bharat Char, with
Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco), a firm in Jalna that
pioneered the GM brinjal (and in which agricultural giant Monsanto holds a
minority stake).
.
But under the NDA government, India has
quietly changed course on GM field testing. In the past year, eight Indian
States largely aligned with BJP have approved field trials of GM crops, between
them allowing tests that include transgenic rice, cotton, maize (corn),
mustard, brinjal and chickpea, according to documents seen by Nature.
Meanwhile, 21 new varieties of GM
crops such as rice, wheat, maize and cotton have been approved for field trials
by the present government. According to these reports, the Genetic Engineering
Appraisal Committee (GEAC) -- consisting mostly of bio-technology supporters
--rejected just one out of the 28 proposals up for consideration. Six proposals
were rejected for want of more information. The move comes while the Supreme
Court is in deliberation on the safety of GM crops.
As is well known, the only GM
allowed in the country is for commercial cultivation of cotton since 2002 and
this has made India
the largest cotton producer in the world. Over 90 per cent of the country’s
cotton growing areas today grow Bt. cotton, which has resulted in the doubling
of cotton yields over the last decade. Currently, the country has the world’s
fourth largest GM crop acreage on the strength of Bt cotton, which has been
both successful and controversial, over pricing and intellectual property
rights (IPR) issues followed by Government price interventions and litigation.
There have been significant advances
in biotechnology and this has led to the development of transgenic varieties of
rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, brinjal, mustard etc. Even recently eminent
agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan made a strong case against the
moratorium and in favour of a smooth approval process towards field trials for
GM crops. Now with the global scientists consent on such crops, the Government
should move a step forward. One cannot deny the fact that food security is
vital for the country, having only 2.3 per cent of the world’s land area but
cannot ensure food security for 17.5 per cent of the world’s population.
Keeping this in view, time has
possibly come to allow GM crops in the country. Multiple studies have shown
that benefits include there are no human or ecological ill-effects, yield
increases and there is resistance to pests. Perhaps the most wide-ranging of
these is a 2014 meta-analysis, by Wilhelm Klumper and Matin Qaim of University
of Gottingen, Germany, of 147 studies on farm surveys and field trials of GM
crops carried out across the world. Their results: use of GM technology
increased crop yields by 22%, reduced chemical pesticides by 37 per cent and
increased farmer profits by 68 per cent, with better results in developing
countries than in developed ones.
The constitution of the
Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) as an independent regulatory
body is thus critical to the country’s progress in biotechnology. The BRAI bill
has been hanging fire for several years now because of hostile public view
propagated by a section on GM crops. It is time the Government take a bold
stand and lay the ground for a measured and tested introduction of GM crops. Bt
brinjal and Bt. mustard could be seriously considered for induction in the
country.
Apart from passing the BRAI bill,
IPR issues have to be resolved that have again come up with the Andhra Pradesh
government seeking compulsory licensing or revocation of the Bt cotton
technology patent in its struggle with Monsanto. It is also necessary, to
organise a conference of experts to clear misgivings. International experts
connected with the matter may also be invited to give their views to aid the
government to take a judicious decision.
Keeping in view the issue of food security that is of great concern for
a populous country like India,
the induction of GM crops may eventually be of help. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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