INDIA: Agriculture ministry sticks to its 'pro-GM crops' stand in Parliament

INDIA

Agriculture ministry sticks to its 'pro-GM crops' stand in Parliament

Dismissing concerns expressed by activists and civil society against use of genetically modified (GM) crops in the country, the Union agriculture ministry on Tuesday said that such objections have been "very speculative" and "without any reasonable assessment".

The ministry, known for its pro-GM crops stand, articulated its point in response to a Parliament question in Lok Sabha and assured the members that the government is "following a policy of case by case approval of GM crops" after extensive evaluation and regulatory process for commercial cultivation.

"This includes generation of relevant bio-safety information, its elaborate analysis to ensure food, feed and environmental safety. A final view on the commercialization of GM crop plants is taken only when there is a clear economic and technical justification besides suitability for environment and human consumption", said the ministry in its written response.

The ministry's reiteration to its well-known stand came merely five days after thousands of activists and anti-GM crops experts from across the country gathered here at Jantar Mantar for a day-long protest demanding that the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and multinational seed companies must quit India.

The protestors had marched to Parliament, asking the government to withdraw the controversial Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill, 2013 as they believe that it will only fast-track the entry of GM food crops in India. They had also demanded that the Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh must unfurl national flag, made of non-Bt cotton, on Independence Day.

Allaying concerns of activists over use of Bt Cotton, the agriculture ministry on Tuesday said, "Since inception of Bt. Cotton, there have been objections from some of the NGOs besides Civil Society on Agriculture... The objections have been very speculative, without any reasonable assessment of the technological strengths of Bt-cotton. In spite of the controversy regarding Bt cotton, the ground reality is that during the last decade, area under cotton cultivation (approx. 12 million hectares, of which 90% is under Bt cotton) and productivity of cotton has gone up significantly".

The ministry also stressed that the Indian economy has benefited as India is the second largest exporter of cotton. "There is no scientific evidence to show that Bt cotton has adversely impacted the biodiversity or human/cattle health. The main purpose of Bt cotton was to control bollworms to enhance yield and production of cotton in the country," it said. TIMES