Rekha Yadav
There are hues and cry for the cultivation of GM crops in the country recently. In Haryana, government has destroyed the brinjal crop of one farmer after it came to know that it is Bt brinjal. In another incident, farmers in Maharashtra are agitating in favour of cultivating HTBt cotton which is still not approved in India. GM stands for genetically modified or genetically modification. It involves adding a specific stretch of DNA in to the plant’s genome, to give new/different characteristics to the particular plant. This is generally done to make it resistant to particular disease/insect/herbicide, for delayed ripening, modified flower colour and also for changing the way the plant grows. Inserted DNA becomes part of the GM plant’s genome which will be expressed in the plants produced by using this plant.GM technology helps to bring together useful genes in one plant from a wide range of living sources, not just from within the crop species or from closely related plants. By the help of this technology, Scientists are able to get the desired results within a short period of time without waiting for years to come, thus having great advantage over conventional plant breeding. In reality, all crops which are grown by us are ‘genetically modified’ from their original wild state due to activities like selection, domestication and controlled breeding.
Origin
Developed countries (North America, Latin America, and Europe) were the first to do research on GM crops. However, several developing countries are still doing on the same path. In the application of GM technology in the field of agriculture, market is dominated by companies like Bayer Crop Science, BASF, Pioneer and Syngenta.
History of GM crops:
Flavr -SavrTM, delayed ripening tomato was the first genetically modified food crop in 1994. The area planted under GM crops shot up from 1.7 m ha in 1996 to 185.1 m ha in 2016. As of 2016, major crop (Soybean, Maize, Canola and Cotton) traits contain genes of herbicide tolerance on approximate area of 95.9 m ha, insect resistance on 25.2 m ha, or both on 58.5 m ha. In 2016, GM crops were grown by 26 countries, out of which 19 were developing countries and 7 countries were industrialized one. In order of hectare area, these were as: USA, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, India, Paraguay, Pakistan, China, South Africa, Uruguay, Bolvia, Australia, Phillipines, Myanmar, Spain, Sudan, Mexico, Colombio, Vietnam, Honduras, Chile, Portugal, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Slovakia and Czech Republic (ISAAA, 2016).Official data for 2018-19 kharif season reveals that 88.27% of 122.38 lakh ha cultivation is under Bt cotton. Bt cotton was first introduced in India in 2002. Bt cotton is the only GM crop approved for commercial cultivation in India till now, according to the International Service for the acquisition of Agri-biotech applications, 2018.
Regulatory mechanism for GM crops in India:
GEAC (Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee) is a statutory body under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 of the Ministry of Environment and Forests ( MoEF ) is the biotech regulator in India. It is responsible for granting permits to conduct experiments, large scale open field trials and to grant approval for commercial release of biotech crops.
Current situation in India
In India, opponents are putting objection on cultivation of GM crops due to their future environmental impact, health risks. Due to fully control of multinational companies/corporations over the production of GM seeds, farmers are losing their sovereign right over seeds. They are also demanding that it should be ensured by the government that the GM crop introduced (eventually after all approval) is made available in all varieties and not just the hybrids. Also, there is concern over issues like loss of traditional seed varieties. However, there is no scientific evidence of any side effect of GM crops. In the age of globalization, to enhance the profitability of our farmers, there is huge potential in this technology. US giant Bayer Monsanto had applied to the GEAC for the commercial release of HTBt (Herbicide Tolerant Bt) cotton in 2013 but withdrew the same in 2016.But now farmers are becoming more and more aware about advanced technology and without concerned over its future results, 70 % of brinjal in Haryana are already GM and 15 % of Maharashtra’s (40 lakh hectare) area under cotton has HTBt (both of which are unapproved in India).
In 2015, while visiting India in March, Norman Borlaug (Father of Green Revolution) gave his points in support of production of GM crops. He said “It is better to die eating GM food instead of dying of hunger”. As per the data provided by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, productivity of cotton in country has increased from 191 kg/ha in 2002-03 to 477 kg/ha in 2017-18 and production increased from 8.62 million bales to 34.89 million bales due to adoption of Bt cotton. At present, some activists are protesting against the cultivation of HTBt cotton and Bt brinjal in India, although we are importing GM soya and GM canola products from other countries. Our neighbor country, Bangladesh had allowed cultivation of Bt Brinjal mainly on the basis of result of field trials conducted in India. However, the same has been put on hold by Indian government. So, this is what farmers are saying that when our neighbor countries are taking benefits of GM technology then why not we! Now, wait for the future recommendation by the government that whether it will go with the farmers, wishes or not.
(The author has a Ph.D. in Agronomy from CCSHAU, Hisar, Haryana)
