No to GMO: Field Testing of 13 GM Crops Stopped in India
No to GMO: Field Testing of 13 GM Crops Stopped in India
GM crops damage health and agriculture. Fortunately , GMO will not find any future in India. According to a statement issued by the environment minister Prakash Javadekar on Twitter , it has been declared that "Field trials of GM crops are not a government decision. It is a recommendation of a committee." As the panel's decisions are only recommendations, it is the environment ministry which must protect Indian consumers from the danger of GM crops. The poll promise of the NDA had also been that no GM crop will enter the Indian agricultural system.
Apart from this, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and the Bharat Kisan Sangh also spoke up and quoted the 59th report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, tabled in the 15th Lok Sabha, which clearly made the recommendation for "stopping of all field trials under any garb". The issue of GM crops is pending before the SC and it is currently hearing a 2005 PIL for NGOs led by noted activist Aruna Rodrigues and her colleagues clearly calling for the government to block biotech GM crops till regulations for plant biotechnology are clearly established. The RSS is making sure it is heard as delegations backed by this organisation are also upholding the recommendations of SC appointed technical expert committee comprising noted scientists in fields such as agriculture and biotechnology .
5 of the total number of 6 experts who presented this report indicated the GM crops should not be openly released till regulatory mechanisms which are robust are there in place. When the Modi government sought to allow field trials of GM crops, many opposed them on account of the fact that the Genetically Engineering Approval Committee has approved 60 out of a total number of 70 applications foe field trials of GM crops . This is in direct constrast to the recommendations of the SC appointed Technical Expert Committee which has submitted its report based on accurate and fact-based data.
While the BJP had promised in its election manifesto that GM food will not be allowed unless its long-term effects are thoroughly evaluated, it should also consider the already robust body of research which has led many nations to disallow GM crops or food for their citizens. Even independent scientific evaluations must already consider the prevailing trends before any decision is taken. Research alone can only benefit people if it is principled and objective. As far as GM crops are concerned, people's health is at stake and many stakeholders such as farmers, consumers, activists and scientific experts will not rest easy until GMO and GM crops are denied entry in India.
The health of India's soil is at risk. The well-being of the Indian farming community is also at stake here. The question of allowing GM crops should not have even arisen in the first place. Our country's Green Revolution was spearheaded by scientists who created high yielding varieties of crops. Natural methods of plant breeding and cultivation incorporating scientific knowledge can yield great dividends for Indian agriculture as well as the Indian consumer. GM crops are dangerous.
The Coalition for a GM-Free India has been quoted as saying:“When most countries around the world are not adopting this risky technology which has a large number of attendant risks to health, environment, and livelihoods, and when several credible official bodies in India have asked for a stopping of field trials, it is extremely irresponsible that our apex biotechnology regulator has thrown such caution to the winds to approve open air field trials.”
Fast tracking GM technology amounts to destroying the livelihood of the Indian agriculturalists. The GM biotech industry has already worked its way into agricultural policy and research. This should be halted. Dilnavaz Variava who is a noted expert and professional in this field has clearly stressed that “A World Bank commissioned study found that agro-ecological approaches and not GM provide the best solution to the world’s food crisis. In March 2011, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food also reported that small scale farmers could double food production within five to ten years by agro-ecological farming. An Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India study for West Bengal found that organic farming could increase net per capita income of a farmer in the state by 250 percent, lead to wealth accumulation of 120 billion rupees ($1.9 billion), generate exports worth 5.5 billion rupees ($87 million) and create nearly two million employment opportunities over five years."
These numbers are part of the bigger picture where GMO is a culprit and not a savior . Variava has stressed that “Macroeconomic data for the largest adopters of GM food indicate the opposite" as far as food security is concerned as "In the U.S., food insecurity has risen from 12 percent in pre-GM 1995 to 15 percent in 2011. In Paraguay, where nearly 65 percent of land is under GM crops, hunger increased from 12.6 percent in 2004-06 to 25.5 percent in 2010-12. In Brazil and Argentina, GM food has not reduced hunger. In any event, GM does not increase yields, as the Union of Concerned Scientists established through a review of 12 years of GM in the US.”
Money may talk but so do numbers . From Bt Brinjal to its more sophisticated brethren , much is being thrust on the Indian farmer as well as the consumer . It will find few takers . The PM has indicated that“We should not discard a technology that helps farmers; we must have faith in science…. We must put technology and science to use, with regulations, and add value to produce.” While science can certainly help, GM crops have also been shown to be scientifically unsound. This inherent contradiction must not escape the notice of our government if the right decision has to be taken.
BJP has always opposed GM crops since 2009 . In 2012 , the party asked the central government to block GM crops as they will hamper productivity and contaminate seeds through cross-pollination. If Indian agriculture (and the Indian consumer) has to be rescued, find a solution to India's irrigation problem first. Rather than leaving us to the mercy of El Nino and the Rain Gods, the government would do well to use technology for improving irrigation and soil fertility. It has plenty of time to bring about change. Now it needs to use science to boost growth and bring the much desired "acche din" for the Indian farmer.
