27/07/2020 - Government Policies

KEY POINTS

·         The moratorium imposed in 2009 on approval of all GM crops remains, while the ground realities with respect to cotton cultivation have undergone a significant change.

·         The demand for the unapproved HTBT cotton seeds, which arrived on the scene about four years back, has arisen in a context of the dominant Bt strain in India, BG-II (which was introduced in 2006 and accounts for most of India’s cotton acreage) falling prey to pink bollworm pest attacks in recent years.

·         The HTBT cotton plant is resistant to the usage of glyphosate-based weedicides, a popular labour-saving product, which too has been allowed for use in very restricted conditions in India for its alleged carcinogenic effects.

·         However, the implications of unregulated seed trade are indeed serious, as farmers in search of high yields may suffer a dead loss if the expensive seeds (selling at over the maximum rates fixed by the Centre) are spurious.

·         Bonafide seed distributors and producers suffer as well, while farmers’ groups have stepped up protests seeking HTBT approval, allowing for reduced costs and quality control. The Centre must take a clear position on the HTBT issue.

·         In perhaps an implicit effort to curb the use of HTBT seeds, the Centre has said that glyphosate-based weedicides must be applied in the presence of a pest control operator. However, the sowing season is close to completion.

·         Meanwhile, the use of glyphosate in India has increased since 2016-17. Be that as it may, the larger issue of taking a clear position on GM-based seed technology cannot be shelved.

·         Ideally, India should have a credible regulator  the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill has been on the backburner since 2013  to assess these issues on a case-by-case basis, involving all stakeholders. India’s initiatives on this count should be driven by public-funded research.

Still reeling from the Covid-19 crisis, the Indian seed sector is being challenged by another deadly contamination: from Herbicide Tolerant (HT) Bt cotton - as motivated agents are trying to sabotage the legal cottonseed business by channelling an 'illegal' trade.

"GM-based seed technology" is the blessing but should be used with full regulatory capability, meaning the ability to carry out independent tests and a credible regulatory system because there are "concerns" like;

- Illegal planting of HT Cotton, which started on a small acreage has spread significantly over the years. 

- There are certain incidents in the past and in present also, where, HT cottonseeds are being sold by illegal operators without any seed licence or marketing permission, due to which 'legal businesses' suffer as their seed lots are contaminated with HT seeds.

- A few black marketers and motivated agents are challenging the "sovereignty of our laws and posing a threat to India’s biodiversity".

- The Field Inspection and Scientific Evaluation Committee (FISEC) formed by the PMO to investigate the proliferation of illegal HT Bt cotton found prevalence of unapproved HT cotton in over 15% of the acreage in the key cotton-growing States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maha. and Guj.

                      These concerns have to be addressed and resolved. That can be done through honest, rigorous research and testing by independent institutions like "The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority Bill 2013".

- The Bill sets up an independent authority, the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI), to regulate organisms and products of modern biotechnology.

- BRAI will regulate the research, transport, import, containment, environmental release, manufacture, and use of biotechnology products.

- Regulatory approval by BRAI will be granted through a multi-level process of assessment undertaken by scientific experts that will certify that the product developed is safe for its intended use. 

>>> Conclusion : 

What is needed today is for the govt to call upon the technology provider and arrive at a policy and licensing framework that encourages introduction of HT Cotton, followed by a "swift regulatory process for evaluating the data and approving the technology". Regulated use of the technology will benefit the cotton and seed industries, and farmers.

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