Even though Genetically Modified organisms have various advantages, crops like Bt Brinjal, GM Mustard are not allowed for cultivation in India. Analyse (200 Words)
Refer - Financial Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 6 years
KEY POINTS
Plants, bacteria, fungi and animals whose genes have been altered by manipulation are called Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO).
Genetic modification has:
· made crops more tolerant to abiotic stresses (cold, drought, salt, heat).
· reduced reliance on chemical pesticides (pest-resistant crops).
· helped to reduce post harvest losses.
· increased efficiency of mineral usage by plants (this prevents early exhaustion of fertility of soil).
· enhanced nutritional value of food, e.g., Vitamin ‘A’ enriched rice.
Case of Bt Brinjal and GM Mustard
· Bt Brinjal being illegally cultivated in the country.
· In 2002, the government had to allow Bt cotton cultivation since farmers started growing this, in spite of the lack of approval.
· In the Bt brinjal case, it was the farmer that suffered.
· While the crop cleared the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee’s (GEAC’s) biosafety-test in 2009, the government yielded to pressure from the anti-GM lobby and declared a moratorium in 2010 on the transgenic crop developed by Mahyco.
· The decision not only hurt Indian farmers—the Fruit and Shoot Borer, the pest that is controlled by the introduction of the Cry1Ac gene in the plant, affects 30-50% of the brinjal crop—it let Bangladesh capture the benefits. In 2013, Bangladesh approved genetic varieties that carry the Cry1Ac gene, and now nearly 20,000 farmers in the country grow the crop.
· Studies by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) show that the genetically-modified brinjal performed far better than the traditional varieties—zero borer infestation was reported in 2017 and farmers cut pesticide use by upto 60%.
· A study by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) found that farmers saw incomes from the crop rise by 55% since the introduction of Bt brinjal.
GM Mustard
· GM-mustard was developed by the public sector, by Delhi University researchers. A GEAC sub-committee, found the crop has ‘nil’ or ‘negligible’ impact for all the criteria it was examined, including toxicity, ‘allergenicity’ and potential as a weed.
· But Anti-GM lobby groups protests led to ban on cultivation of Gm mustard.
· DMH-11’s claim to safety, higher yield and superior hybridisation technology. Its tolerance to herbicide will result in loss of weeding jobs, the letter says.
· As labour for weeding is either not available when needed, or unaffordable to them.
