ajtr
BANNED
- Joined
- May 25, 2010
- Messages
- 9,357
- Reaction score
- 0
How will the world react if India says no to GE food?
Genetically engineered (GE) food is a hot button topic in India. What happens here often sends ripples throughout the GE debate worldwide, but what happened last week is surely a major milestone.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, made up of members of parliament (MPs) from across party lines, tabled its latest report on GE food and GE crops following intense consultation with farmers, environmental groups, scientists and consumer groups.
The committee undertook extensive consultation perhaps the most comprehensive taken anywhere in the world. The committee took two and half years holding hearings across India and going through some 493 memoranda running to some 15,000 pages.
Their conclusion?
GE crops are not the best option for a country like India, either in terms of farmers livelihoods or food security. In fact, the committee concluded that GE crops could pose a serious threat to peoples health and to biodiversity. The committee also found that Bt cotton, the only commercially cultivated GE crop in India, has failed to benefit farmers, especially small and marginal farmers in rainfed regions who form the majority of cotton cultivators in the country.
The existing and proposed regulatory systems in India were also called into question. It has recommended an all encompassing Biosafety Protection Authority for India which will safeguard the health of citizens, the environment, food, feed and farming from any risky technologies such as GE crops. The standing committee has also asked for a halt to all open field trials under any
These are ambitious recommendations and send a clear signal to the GE industry. But the Parliamentary Standing Committees report is recommendatory in nature and the government will have to present an action plan within the next three months. The reports findings vindicate Greenpeace and all others who have been warning of the threats posed by GE crops in India. Indeed, it will push us to ensure these recommendations are fully adopted.
These developments come six months after a draft Chinese grain/staple food law restricting the genetic modification of staple crops in China. The report is a clear sign that the largest agrarian countries in the world, China and India, are taking a precautionary approach to GE crops and do not see them as a sustainable solution.
The biotech industry and their cronies in the government will try to discredit this report and sideline its recomendations. But they forget that the parliamentary standing committee reflects the will of the people. Greenpeace will continue to remind our Government of this and continue our fight against any open releases of GE crops including those for experimental trials. This will only be possible if people come together and demand governments to act now.
Rajesh Krishnan is a Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner for Greenpeace India
Bar GM food crops, says parliamentary panel
Members of a women's federation raising slogans against the move to introduce Bt brinjal at Palayamkottai in this file photo.
‘Probe how Bt brinjal seed was allowed to be commercialised’
In a major setback to the proponents of genetically modified technology in farm crops, the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture on Thursday asked the government to stop all field trials and sought a bar on GM food crops (such as Bt. brinjal).
The committee report, tabled in the Lok Sabha, demanded a “thorough probe” into how permission was given to commercialise Bt. brinjal seed when all evaluation tests were not carried out.
It said there were indications of a “collusion of the worst kind from the beginning till the imposition of a moratorium on its commercialisation in February, 2010, by the then Minister for Environment and Forests.”
The report came a day after Maharashtra cancelled Mahyco’s licence to sell its Bt. cotton seeds.
It flayed the government for not discussing the issue in Parliament and observed that the Ministry failed in its responsibility by introducing such a policy, ignoring the interests of the 70 per cent small and marginal farmers.
The report criticised the composition and regulatory role of the Genetic Engineering Approval (Appraisal) Committee and the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM).
According to Committee chairman Basudeb Acharia, there is not a single note of dissent in the report of the 31-member panel, including nine from the Congress and six from the BJP. Observing that GM crops (such as Bt. cotton) benefited the (seed) industry without a “trickle-down” gain to farmers, it recommended that till all concerns were addressed, further research and development should be done only in contained conditions.
Citing instances of conflict of interest of various stakeholders, the panel said the government must put in place all regulatory, monitoring, oversight and surveillance systems.
Raising the “ethical dimensions” of transgenics in agricultural crops, as well as studies of a long-term environmental and chronic toxicology impact, the panel noted that there were no significant socio-economic benefits to farmers. On the contrary, farmers have incurred huge debts because of this capital-intensive practice.
“Today, 93 per cent of the area is under Bt. cotton because no alternative seeds are available,” Mr. Acharia said.
Keywords: GM food crops, genetically modified technology, farm crops, Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, field trials, Bt. brinjal
Genetically engineered (GE) food is a hot button topic in India. What happens here often sends ripples throughout the GE debate worldwide, but what happened last week is surely a major milestone.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, made up of members of parliament (MPs) from across party lines, tabled its latest report on GE food and GE crops following intense consultation with farmers, environmental groups, scientists and consumer groups.
The committee undertook extensive consultation perhaps the most comprehensive taken anywhere in the world. The committee took two and half years holding hearings across India and going through some 493 memoranda running to some 15,000 pages.
Their conclusion?
GE crops are not the best option for a country like India, either in terms of farmers livelihoods or food security. In fact, the committee concluded that GE crops could pose a serious threat to peoples health and to biodiversity. The committee also found that Bt cotton, the only commercially cultivated GE crop in India, has failed to benefit farmers, especially small and marginal farmers in rainfed regions who form the majority of cotton cultivators in the country.
The existing and proposed regulatory systems in India were also called into question. It has recommended an all encompassing Biosafety Protection Authority for India which will safeguard the health of citizens, the environment, food, feed and farming from any risky technologies such as GE crops. The standing committee has also asked for a halt to all open field trials under any
These are ambitious recommendations and send a clear signal to the GE industry. But the Parliamentary Standing Committees report is recommendatory in nature and the government will have to present an action plan within the next three months. The reports findings vindicate Greenpeace and all others who have been warning of the threats posed by GE crops in India. Indeed, it will push us to ensure these recommendations are fully adopted.
These developments come six months after a draft Chinese grain/staple food law restricting the genetic modification of staple crops in China. The report is a clear sign that the largest agrarian countries in the world, China and India, are taking a precautionary approach to GE crops and do not see them as a sustainable solution.
The biotech industry and their cronies in the government will try to discredit this report and sideline its recomendations. But they forget that the parliamentary standing committee reflects the will of the people. Greenpeace will continue to remind our Government of this and continue our fight against any open releases of GE crops including those for experimental trials. This will only be possible if people come together and demand governments to act now.
Rajesh Krishnan is a Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner for Greenpeace India
Bar GM food crops, says parliamentary panel
Members of a women's federation raising slogans against the move to introduce Bt brinjal at Palayamkottai in this file photo.
‘Probe how Bt brinjal seed was allowed to be commercialised’
In a major setback to the proponents of genetically modified technology in farm crops, the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture on Thursday asked the government to stop all field trials and sought a bar on GM food crops (such as Bt. brinjal).
The committee report, tabled in the Lok Sabha, demanded a “thorough probe” into how permission was given to commercialise Bt. brinjal seed when all evaluation tests were not carried out.
It said there were indications of a “collusion of the worst kind from the beginning till the imposition of a moratorium on its commercialisation in February, 2010, by the then Minister for Environment and Forests.”
The report came a day after Maharashtra cancelled Mahyco’s licence to sell its Bt. cotton seeds.
It flayed the government for not discussing the issue in Parliament and observed that the Ministry failed in its responsibility by introducing such a policy, ignoring the interests of the 70 per cent small and marginal farmers.
The report criticised the composition and regulatory role of the Genetic Engineering Approval (Appraisal) Committee and the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM).
According to Committee chairman Basudeb Acharia, there is not a single note of dissent in the report of the 31-member panel, including nine from the Congress and six from the BJP. Observing that GM crops (such as Bt. cotton) benefited the (seed) industry without a “trickle-down” gain to farmers, it recommended that till all concerns were addressed, further research and development should be done only in contained conditions.
Citing instances of conflict of interest of various stakeholders, the panel said the government must put in place all regulatory, monitoring, oversight and surveillance systems.
Raising the “ethical dimensions” of transgenics in agricultural crops, as well as studies of a long-term environmental and chronic toxicology impact, the panel noted that there were no significant socio-economic benefits to farmers. On the contrary, farmers have incurred huge debts because of this capital-intensive practice.
“Today, 93 per cent of the area is under Bt. cotton because no alternative seeds are available,” Mr. Acharia said.
Keywords: GM food crops, genetically modified technology, farm crops, Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, field trials, Bt. brinjal
