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They have opposite views on genetically modified (GM) crops but are united on one issue — the inaction/silence of the Ministry for Environment and Forests (MoEF) on various issues.
For instance, the pro-GM lobby, led by multinational and domestic seed-makers, wants the Ministry to reconstitute the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) so that the trial process can move on.
Technically, there is no regulator for GM products now; the GEAC met last in April 2012.
“We want the GEAC to be reconstituted and a meeting held soon as the sowing window for kharif plantings is approaching fast,” said Ram Kaundinya, Chairman of the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (Agriculture Group) and CEO of UPL Advanta Seeds.
Some 50 applications relating to new crop biotech products are pending assessment and approval by the regulator.
Upper hand to Farm Ministry
On the other side, the greens want Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan to take a proactive stance. Although Natarajan is privately seen to be hawkish on commercialisation of GM crops, her not taking an open stance has allowed the Agriculture Ministry to steal the thunder by linking GM crops with food security.
Thus, by default, the Agriculture Ministry’s position has now become the official view of the Government in the debate on GM crops.
The recent ‘rhetoric’ of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on allowing GM crop field trials has rattled the anti-GM lobby, which believes that his argument on linking food security to genetically modified technology will mislead the debate.
Making a case for GM technology to boost farm output, Pawar recently said that scientists should not be denied the right to conduct the field trials of such crops.
“Civil society wants the Environment Minister to respond publicly so that the Agriculture Minister does not mislead the debate on GM and food security in the country,” said Neha Saigal, Campaigner, Sustainable Agriculture, Greenpeace.
Food rights organisations, under the Right to Food Campaign (RFC), recently wrote to Pawar, urging him to tackle food security in more fundamental ways than linking it with genetically modified crops.
The RFC urged the Agriculture Ministry not to come in the way of much-needed changes in the transgenics scene in India, reminding it of the recommendations of the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) appointed by the Supreme Court.
Expert panel
In its interim report last October, the TEC had called for a 10-year moratorium on field trials of GM crops. The Committee is expected to submit its final recommendations to the Supreme Court later this month.
Vishwanath.kulkarni@thehindu.co.in
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