WHAT IS GMO?
A GMO (genetically modified organism) is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal. The foreign genes may come from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even humans. Because this involves the transfer of genes, GMOs are also known as “transgenic” organisms.
This concept of genetic modification brings about alterations in genetic makeup and in the properties of the organism developed. This technique using genetic engineering is highly mutagenic and leads to unpredictable changes in the DNA and the proteins produced by the GMO that can lead to toxic or allergic reactions.
The methods used to transfer the genes of modified DNA of a genetically modified plant are imprecise and unpredictable. These unintended changes are possible differences in the food’s nutritional values, toxic and allergic effects, lower crop yields and unforeseen harm to the environment that cannot be recalled. http://seedsofdeception.com/
Why does India need GM Mustard at all?
http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.in/2016/01/why-does-india-need-gm-mustard-at-all.html
Thirteen years after the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) had ‘deferred’ commercial approval for genetically-modified (GM) mustard; the genie is once again back. Costing Rs 70-crore of taxpayer’s money, which could have helped set up at least 3,000 new schools, the new GM mustard awaiting approval for commercial cultivation this time comes dressed up in public sector attire.
The same claims, the same language (almost the same) and the same fears. Earlier it was Pro-Agro Seeds India Private Ltd, a subsidiary of multinational agro-chemical giant Bayer, which claimed its GM variety containing four foreign genes, would raise the productivity of mustard by 20-25 per cent, and improve oil quality. The new GM mustard that has been developed by the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants, University of Delhi, and contains three alien genes – Bar, Barnase and Barstar -- also makes strikingly similar claims. At the same time, for reasons that can be explained, the promoters of the earlier Pro-Agro GM mustard as well as Delhi University’s new GM mustard deny the expression of herbicide resistance, although both use a gene known for it.
The country is importing Rs 60,000-crore worth of edible oils every year and therefore there is an urgent need to increase the production of mustard, which in turn means producing more edible oils, goes the refrain. In several panel discussions and public debates on this subject in which I have partcipated, I have heard Dr Deepak Pental, a former Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University and the lead developer of the new GM mustard, repeatedly assert on the need to cut down on the foreign exchange outgo and also how much would be the resulting saving for a developing country like India. This is exactly what the promoters of the GM mustard developed by Pro-Agro used to claim some 13 years back. Edible oil imports at that time were also around 50 per cent of the domestic requirement, costing the state exchequer Rs 12,000-crore.
To any educated person, the argument on the need to reduce the huge import bill on edible oils sounds very appealing. But very cleverly, the GM lobby has used this argument to give an impression as if it is because of the a shortfall in mustard production. In reality, it is not so.
Let me explain. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was piqued over India’s rising imports. He was desperate to cut down on what the macro-economists call as the Current Account Deficit. Fuel, fertilizer and edible oils topped the import chart. The annual import bill for edible oils then hovered between Rs 1500 and Rs 3000-crores. Knowing that edible oil imports could be stopped since India had the ability to raise domestic oilseeds production and also undertake processing, he launched a Technology Mission in Oilseeds in 1985.
In less than ten years, between 1986 and 1993, doubling of oilseeds production was remarkable indeed, and was later dubbed asYellow Revolution. From 11 million tonnes in 1986-87, oilseeds production jumped to 22 million tonnes in 1993-94. From a net importer, India became almost self-sufficient in edible oils. With 97 per cent self-sufficiency, India’s imports were reduced to only 3 per cent of the requirement. The downslide began a few years later when India deliberately began to lower the import duties allowing cheaper and heavily subsidized edible oil to flow in. The more the edible oil imports, the more the domestic processing industry pulled down the shutters.
In 2002-03, when Pro-Agro was trying to market its GM mustard, the imports had touched Rs 12,000-crore at the then prevailing prices. Thirteen years later, when Dr Pental is trying to push the new GM mustard – DMH 11 -- the annual import bill has soared to Rs 60,000-crore. But the rising import bill, as is evident, is not because of any shortfall in domestic production, but resulting from a flawed import-export policy that had brought the import tariffs to almost zero. What is therefore needed is to raise the import tariffs to about 70 per cent or higher (WTO allows India a maximum of 300 per cent import tariffs on edible oils) and then provide a high price and an assured market, farmers would do the rest.
At the same time, the claim that GM mustard increases productivity by 20-25 per cent is simply absurd, and if I may say so is motivated. First of all, there is no known gene (or a cluster of genes) that can increase productivity. Secondly, any GM variety is known to be as good as the hybrid in which the alien gene is inserted. Even if a gene simplifies the process of hybridization it does not mean it raises crop productivity. To compare the yield of GM mustard (which essentially means hybrid mustard) with traditional varieties therefore is only unfair. On the related issues of gene flow, contamination and the growth of super weeds, the response so far has been unscientific.
In the past 13 years, I have not heard of any complaint about the quality of mustard oil that is available. Mustard has traditionally been used for food (its leaves cooked as sarson ka saag) and should not be viewed only as edible oil. I sometimes use mustard oil for taking care of my ear and nose ailments, for regular body massage, and it is also used in several traditional medicine formulations. It is therefore crucial that the concerns raised by the Ministry of Environment and Forests at the time of imposing a moratorium on Bt brinjal in 2010, the Parliamentary Standing Committee report on GM Foods, as well as the recommendations of the Supreme Court Technical Committee are followed in letter and spirit.
The common problem that consumers encounter with mustard oil is its rampant adulteration with cheaper oils. Nowadays I find that even the adulterated mustard oil (mostly with cheaper cottonseed oil or palm oil) that is being openly sold contains a sprinkling of red chilly solution so as to satisfy the taste and smell at the time of cooking. ABLE would do a remarkable public service if it were to launch a consumer campaign demanding the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to ensure availability of genuine and pure mustard oil. I still can’t understand why the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (as it is called now) wants to sweep under the carpet the conclusions arrived in the excellent 19-page report the then Minister for Environment Jairam Ramesh had submitted at the time of announcing a moratorium. Is the GM industry so powerful that the GEAC is willing to scuttle a scientific debate spearheaded by a former minister and is even willing to ignore the resulting health and environmental concerns for no apparent benefit resulting from commercializing GM mustard?
Why does India need GM Mustard at all? BioSpectrum. Jan 19, 2016
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June 22, 2015 15:21 IST
http://www.rediff.com/business/report/thanks-to-modis-push-gm-mustard-set-to-hit-indian-markets/20150622.htm
Activists are aghast that at a time when the entire nation is concerned with laxity in food safety regulation as seen in the Maggi case, the Modi government is pushing GM food crops without adequate safety assessment and transparency
http://www.rediff.com/business/report/thanks-to-modis-push-gm-mustard-set-to-hit-indian-markets/20150622.htm
Activists are aghast that at a time when the entire nation is concerned with laxity in food safety regulation as seen in the Maggi case, the Modi government is pushing GM food crops without adequate safety assessment and transparency
Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have opposed BT brinjal in his earlier avatar as chief minister of Gujarat but at present he is batting hard for genetically modified crops.
Launching the Doordarshan Kisan channel for farmers earlier this month, Modi came out strongly for GM crops. declaring that this would give a major boost to farmers’ incomes.
The prime minister lobbed the ball to the farmers by asking them, “Today, the country has to import pulses. Let’s resolve that by 2022... we will no longer have to import pulses… I have been telling our universities, especially our agricultural universities that, each of them, should take up a specific variety of pulse … how to do research in it, how to do genetic engineering in it, how to increase productivity, how to increase protein content so that farmers get good prices."
Modi’s concern for increasing production in edible oil and pulses is completely justified given that India has emerged as a major importer of both the commodities. At present, India’s import bill on edible oil alone stands at $10 billion per annum. In fact, edible oil is its biggest import item after (crude) oil and gold.
Modi is convinced a second green revolution will be triggered by GM crops just as the first was triggered by high-yielding wheat and rice crops.
Gujarat has been in the forefront of a similar revolution in Bt cotton with 96 per cent of its farmers having switched to this new technology, which has propelled India to become the second largest exporter of cotton in the world.
Union Minister of Environment Prakash Javadekar has supported prime minister’s stand insisting, "We cannot say no to science…. We are not living in Galileo’s time. Galileo was speaking the truth and he was punished. Nations that do not believe in science are on the path of backwardness."
Deepak Pental, a scientist at the Delhi University, has been heading research on GM mustard for nearly a decade now. Pental believes increased mustard production will immediately reduce India’s import of edible oil as it will help increase production by over 30 per cent. He also claims that GM mustard will have a vitamin that will permanently resolve the problem of malnutrition in India.
Almost on cue, after the prime minister had made clear his mind on GM, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave a green signal to field trials of rice, chickpeas, corn and brinjal.
The Anil Kakodkar committee appointed by the earlier United Progressive Alliance government to study the entire issue of GM crops had recommended holding field trials, but with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch vehemently opposing the move, Fadnavis was forced to beat a hasty retreat and had put on hold all confined field trails 'until all doubts are cleared.'
Maharashtra had given no-objection certificates to 28 companies for field trials. Unfortunately, these companies had not sought prior clearance from the GEAC (Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee) and so the tests could not start.
Maharashtra has not stipulated any time-line as to when these field trials will be resumed.
Punjab, ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party-Akali Dal coalition, had also given a green signal to field trials in mustard as has the Union territory of Delhi. Karnataka, too, has okayed confined field trials in universities, but a majority of the states are against field trials.
Ashwani Mahajan, national convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, believes that with a PIL (public interest litigation) on GM crops pending before the Supreme Court, the Centre should wait for the court's direction before giving the green signal for field trials.
Mahajan also asks why no certification system has been put in place for GM seeds, and also why the government has failed to conduct any scientific study on the impact of the field trials that had been okayed by GEAC in 2014.
Activists opposed to GM crops are also watching the recent developments with dismay. The Coalition for a GM Free India approached GEAC for its bio-safety research dossiers on GM mustard developed by the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants, Delhi University, with support from the Department of Biotechnology and the National Dairy Development Board, but these requests have been turned down.
The requests were filed under the Right to Information Act in which they asked for data on environmental and toxicity studies done on GM mustard.
Kavitha Kuruganti, convenor, Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture, noted that the DMH11 hybrid mustard has been created by genetically engineering bacterial genes of selected mustard parental lines to create male sterile parent plants. This is used for the production of hybrid seeds which are then sold to the farmers for cultivation.
Along with these genes for hybrid production is another bacterial gene for herbicide tolerance in the guise of a marker gene.
"At a time when the entire nation is concerned with laxity in food safety regulation as seen in the Maggi case, it is outrageous that GM food crops are being pushed without adequate safety assessment and transparency," said Kuruganti.
Kuruganti also maintains that GM mustard comes up for consideration for commercialisation approval at a time when there is an increasing number of scientific evidence on the adverse impacts of GM crops and herbicides including a recent World Health Organisation study pointing to the carcinogenic potential of herbicides like glyphosate. Contamination is inevitable from the GM mustard and even the developer of the GM mustard, Dr Pental, had accepted that, which becomes a matter of grave concern, she claims.
Kuruganti questions the claim that GM mustard will see a 30 per cent increase in mustard production. "The yield increase is more in the domain of 15-20 per cent and that will come about through the use of high yielding seeds," she said.
Activists also warn that while India has more varieties of mustard than any other nation in the world, and a large number of these will be sidelined if GM mustard is introduced. The same story would have been repeated in the case of brinjal, especially since India has between 300 and 400 varieties of brinjal.
"We expect GM mustard to be the first such crop to come in for commercial cultivation because of the claim that it will help reduce the burden of payment on imported edible oil," Kuruganti added. This will make it the first GM food crop to come in for commercial cultivation after Jairam Ramesh ordered a moratorium on the cultivation of GM brinjal five years ago.
What activists find hard to swallow is that despite the Supreme Court having ordered that all bio-safety reports be placed in the public domain, the GEAC’s unwillingness to provide information is a flagrant violation of this order.
The Coalition for a GM Free India has also lodged a complaint with the environment ministry about how the trials of GM mustard held in Bhatinda were done in violation of the protocols laid out by GEAC.
Pankaj Bhushan, a co-convenor with the Coalition, from Muzaffarpur, pointed out, "We visited Punjab University two months after the GM mustard had been harvested and found plants still lying around in the field. The stipulation is in clear violation of the rules which state that all plants must be burnt. We have given photographic evidence of this violation," said Bhushan.
Other environmental groups including Greenpeace oppose field trials and claim that without proper regulatory mechanisms in place, the public will be vulnerable to contamination with untested and potentially hazardous GM food.
Modi is batting for increased food productivity. He asked farmers to increase foodgrains productivity from two tonnes a hectare to three tonnes and also adopt a three-pronged farm approach that would balance farming, animal husbandry and tree plantation.
“Our average farm productivity comes to two tonnes per hectare against the global average of three tonnes a hectare. We must strive to reach the global levels," he told farmers in order to help ensure food security for the country’s rising population.
He, however, did not spell out whether GM food and its subsequent fallout would help provide this food security.
Launching the Doordarshan Kisan channel for farmers earlier this month, Modi came out strongly for GM crops. declaring that this would give a major boost to farmers’ incomes.
The prime minister lobbed the ball to the farmers by asking them, “Today, the country has to import pulses. Let’s resolve that by 2022... we will no longer have to import pulses… I have been telling our universities, especially our agricultural universities that, each of them, should take up a specific variety of pulse … how to do research in it, how to do genetic engineering in it, how to increase productivity, how to increase protein content so that farmers get good prices."
Modi’s concern for increasing production in edible oil and pulses is completely justified given that India has emerged as a major importer of both the commodities. At present, India’s import bill on edible oil alone stands at $10 billion per annum. In fact, edible oil is its biggest import item after (crude) oil and gold.
Modi is convinced a second green revolution will be triggered by GM crops just as the first was triggered by high-yielding wheat and rice crops.
Gujarat has been in the forefront of a similar revolution in Bt cotton with 96 per cent of its farmers having switched to this new technology, which has propelled India to become the second largest exporter of cotton in the world.
Union Minister of Environment Prakash Javadekar has supported prime minister’s stand insisting, "We cannot say no to science…. We are not living in Galileo’s time. Galileo was speaking the truth and he was punished. Nations that do not believe in science are on the path of backwardness."
Deepak Pental, a scientist at the Delhi University, has been heading research on GM mustard for nearly a decade now. Pental believes increased mustard production will immediately reduce India’s import of edible oil as it will help increase production by over 30 per cent. He also claims that GM mustard will have a vitamin that will permanently resolve the problem of malnutrition in India.
Almost on cue, after the prime minister had made clear his mind on GM, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave a green signal to field trials of rice, chickpeas, corn and brinjal.
The Anil Kakodkar committee appointed by the earlier United Progressive Alliance government to study the entire issue of GM crops had recommended holding field trials, but with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch vehemently opposing the move, Fadnavis was forced to beat a hasty retreat and had put on hold all confined field trails 'until all doubts are cleared.'
Maharashtra had given no-objection certificates to 28 companies for field trials. Unfortunately, these companies had not sought prior clearance from the GEAC (Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee) and so the tests could not start.
Maharashtra has not stipulated any time-line as to when these field trials will be resumed.
Punjab, ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party-Akali Dal coalition, had also given a green signal to field trials in mustard as has the Union territory of Delhi. Karnataka, too, has okayed confined field trials in universities, but a majority of the states are against field trials.
Ashwani Mahajan, national convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, believes that with a PIL (public interest litigation) on GM crops pending before the Supreme Court, the Centre should wait for the court's direction before giving the green signal for field trials.
Mahajan also asks why no certification system has been put in place for GM seeds, and also why the government has failed to conduct any scientific study on the impact of the field trials that had been okayed by GEAC in 2014.
Activists opposed to GM crops are also watching the recent developments with dismay. The Coalition for a GM Free India approached GEAC for its bio-safety research dossiers on GM mustard developed by the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants, Delhi University, with support from the Department of Biotechnology and the National Dairy Development Board, but these requests have been turned down.
The requests were filed under the Right to Information Act in which they asked for data on environmental and toxicity studies done on GM mustard.
Kavitha Kuruganti, convenor, Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture, noted that the DMH11 hybrid mustard has been created by genetically engineering bacterial genes of selected mustard parental lines to create male sterile parent plants. This is used for the production of hybrid seeds which are then sold to the farmers for cultivation.
Along with these genes for hybrid production is another bacterial gene for herbicide tolerance in the guise of a marker gene.
"At a time when the entire nation is concerned with laxity in food safety regulation as seen in the Maggi case, it is outrageous that GM food crops are being pushed without adequate safety assessment and transparency," said Kuruganti.
Kuruganti also maintains that GM mustard comes up for consideration for commercialisation approval at a time when there is an increasing number of scientific evidence on the adverse impacts of GM crops and herbicides including a recent World Health Organisation study pointing to the carcinogenic potential of herbicides like glyphosate. Contamination is inevitable from the GM mustard and even the developer of the GM mustard, Dr Pental, had accepted that, which becomes a matter of grave concern, she claims.
Kuruganti questions the claim that GM mustard will see a 30 per cent increase in mustard production. "The yield increase is more in the domain of 15-20 per cent and that will come about through the use of high yielding seeds," she said.
Activists also warn that while India has more varieties of mustard than any other nation in the world, and a large number of these will be sidelined if GM mustard is introduced. The same story would have been repeated in the case of brinjal, especially since India has between 300 and 400 varieties of brinjal.
"We expect GM mustard to be the first such crop to come in for commercial cultivation because of the claim that it will help reduce the burden of payment on imported edible oil," Kuruganti added. This will make it the first GM food crop to come in for commercial cultivation after Jairam Ramesh ordered a moratorium on the cultivation of GM brinjal five years ago.
What activists find hard to swallow is that despite the Supreme Court having ordered that all bio-safety reports be placed in the public domain, the GEAC’s unwillingness to provide information is a flagrant violation of this order.
The Coalition for a GM Free India has also lodged a complaint with the environment ministry about how the trials of GM mustard held in Bhatinda were done in violation of the protocols laid out by GEAC.
Pankaj Bhushan, a co-convenor with the Coalition, from Muzaffarpur, pointed out, "We visited Punjab University two months after the GM mustard had been harvested and found plants still lying around in the field. The stipulation is in clear violation of the rules which state that all plants must be burnt. We have given photographic evidence of this violation," said Bhushan.
Other environmental groups including Greenpeace oppose field trials and claim that without proper regulatory mechanisms in place, the public will be vulnerable to contamination with untested and potentially hazardous GM food.
Modi is batting for increased food productivity. He asked farmers to increase foodgrains productivity from two tonnes a hectare to three tonnes and also adopt a three-pronged farm approach that would balance farming, animal husbandry and tree plantation.
“Our average farm productivity comes to two tonnes per hectare against the global average of three tonnes a hectare. We must strive to reach the global levels," he told farmers in order to help ensure food security for the country’s rising population.
He, however, did not spell out whether GM food and its subsequent fallout would help provide this food security.
Photographs: Reuters
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