Organic farming in India wll be jeopardised with commercialisation of GM mustar: Senior economists write to Modi

Sudarshan Iyengar

Counterview Desk
Following an open letter by Dr Vallabh Kathiria, former Union minister under AB Vajpayee and BJP leader from Rajkot, asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to allow environmental clearance to genetically modified (GM) mustard seed, several top economists have asked Modi to stop its commercial cultivation.
Led by Prof Sudarshan Iyengar, former vice chancellor, Gujarat Vidyapith, ex-president, Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE), and Gandhian, the letter has been endorsed by tens of economists, who claim to have been engaged in "issues of farm livelihoods, food security and related matters."
"We are writing with concern about the recommended 'environmental release' of GM mustard by regulators in Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) in the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India", the letter says, adding, Supreme Court hearing on the issue makes it clear that "the Centre is keen on authorising this “environmental release”/commercial cultivation of GM mustard".
"The regulators and promoters are stating that GM mustard has been successfully evaluated for food and environmental safety as well as for agronomic superiority", the letter says, adding, "However, there have also been many counter-arguments questioning the testing and appraisal procedures."
Wondering how could the crop developers "themselves evolve test protocols and conduct tests themselves", with "no long term testing" having taken place "on health or environmental front", the letter claims, "GM mustard has not been proven to be a superior hybridisation or pollination control technology as compared to a non-transgenic hybridisation/pollination control technology called CMS (cytoplasmic male sterility) technology."
Pointing out that "no such testing has been done that compared GM mustard against non-transgenic technologies of pollination control", the letter says, "In majority of countries around the world which grow rapeseed/mustard, seeds used are non-transgenic hybrids."
As regards the argument of agronomic superiority, about which Delhi University’s Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP) has made "claims", and about which Kathiria has especially stressed, the letter does not agree with the view that that GM mustard's higher yields would "bring down India’s edible oil imports."
Pointing towards "counter evidence" on "unacceptable and unreliable testing of GM mustard by using protocols that were evolved by the crop developers not adhering to the norms followed by all other public sector scientists of the country", the letter underlines, "Government of India has admitted in the Supreme Court in an affidavit in October 2016, that GM mustard has not been claimed to out-yield non-GMO hybrids".
The letter quotes a sub-committee ofGenetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), responsible for safety appraisal of GM mustard, as saying, “The yield comparison with national and local checks which has commercial use applications is beyond the mandate of the assessment” (Para 5.2 of final report of Sub-Committee of the GEAC dated 1-11-2016)."
The letter fears, there is "likelihood of displacement of rural workers from manual de-weeding for daily or piece rate wages, because with an herbicide tolerant crop, farmers will spray weedicides on the crop rather than employ labourers for manual de-weeding." De-weeding is an important source of employment for poor rural women mostly. Such “weeds” are also sources of fodder for livestock.
It further says, "Organic farming will be jeopardised with the commercialisation of GM mustard. This is a sunrise sector, on which the government is also investing through large flagship schemes, and a niche area in which India has the potential to be the world leader".
The letter has been endorsed, among others, by Dr C Rammanohar Reddy, former editor of Economic & Political Weekly; Dr Indira Devi, Director, Centre for Excellence in Environmental Economics, Kerala Agriculture University, Thrissur; Dr Ranjit Singh Ghuman, Nehru SAIL Chair Professor, Centre for Research in Rural & Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh; Prof Atul Sood, Professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Kamal Nayan Kabra, Former Professor, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi; among others.

Comments

Mystery around Gujarat PSU 'transfer' of Rs 250 crore to Canadian firm Karnalyte

By AK Luke, IAS (Retd)*
While returning from a Board meeting of the Oil India Limited (OIL) in Ahmedabad some time in 2012, two officers of the Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd (GSFC), Nanavaty and Patel, saw me off at the airport. They said they were proceeding to Canada in connection with a project GSFC had entered into with a company there. As we were running late, I hastily wished them the best.

Savarkar in Ahmedabad 'declared' two-nation theory in 1937, Jinnah followed 3 years later

By Our Representative
One of the top freedom fighters whom BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi revere the most, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, was also a great supporter of the two nation theory for India, one for Hindus another for Muslims, claims a new expose on the man who is also known to be the original proponent of the concept of Hindutva.

Indians have made 119 nations their ‘karma bhumi’: US-based Hindu NGO tells Rupani

Counterview Desk
In a stinging letter to Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, the US-based Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), referring to the report citing his justification for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) – that “while Muslims can choose any one of the 150 Islamic countries in the world (for residence), India is the only country for Hindus" – has said, he should remember, Hindus have made several countries, including USA, their home.

J&K continues to be haunted, as parts of India 'degenerate' into quasi-Kashmir situation

By Rajendran Narayanan*, Sandeep Pandey**
“Jab har saans mein bandook dikhe toh baccha kaise bekhauf rahe?” (How can a child be fearless when she sees a gun in every breath?) remarked Anwar, a gardener from Srinagar, when asked about the situation in Kashmir. On November 30, 2019, a walk through an iron gate in a quiet neighbourhood of Srinagar took us inside a public school. It was 11 am when typically every school is abuzz with activity. Not here though.

Tata Mundra's possible closure? Power ministry's 'pressure tactic' on consumer states

By Bharat Patel*
Tata power has announced to the Union Ministry of Power that Tata Power may be forced to stop operating its imported coal-based Mundra Ultra-Mega Power Project (UMPP) after February, 2020. It is not only unfortunate but also criminal that irreversible damage has been caused to the fragile ecosystem of Mundra coast for a project that will have a running life of only seven years.

What about religious persecution of Dalits, Adivasis, asks anti-CAA meet off Ahmedabad

By Rajiv Shah
A well-attended Dalit rights meet under the banner “14 Pe Charcha” (discussion on Article 14 of the Indian Constitution), alluding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi well-known campaign phrase of the 2014 Parliamentary elections, “chai pe charcha” (discussion over cup of tea), organized off Ahmedabad, has resolved on Wednesday to hold a 14 kilometres-long rally on April 14 to oppose the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), enacted on December 10-11.

Population control? 10% Indian couples want to delay next pregnancy, but fail

Counterview Desk
Shireen Jejeebhoy, director at Aksha Centre for Equity and Wellbeing, previously senior associate at the Population Council, India, argues that the debate on the country's population was fuelled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address to the nation, where he drew attention to “concern” about the challenges posed by this ‘exploding’ population growth, needs to centre around the promotion of rights and education, instead of the language of explosion and the threat of coercion that this term implies.

Upendra Baxi on foolish excellence, Indian judges and Consitutional cockroaches

By Rajiv Shah
In a controversial assertion, top legal expert Upendra Baxi has sought to question India's Constitution makers for neglecting human rights and social justice. Addressing an elite audience in Ahmedabad, Prof Baxi said, the constitutional idea of India enunciated by the Constituent Assembly tried to resolve four key conflicting concepts: governance, development, rights and justice.

Kerala governor turned History Congress into political arena, 'insulted' Prof Irfan Habib

Counterview Desk
In a signed statement, office bearers of the Aligarh Society of History and Archaeology (ASHA), Prof Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi (president), Prof Jabir Raza (vice-president), Prof Manvendra Kumar Pundhir (secretary) and Prof Farhat Hasan (joint secretary), have said that Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan had sought to insult veteran historian Prof Irfan Habib, 88, at the 80th session of the Indian History Congress, even as turning it into his “political arena”.

Counterview

Search This Blog