BT brinjal halted… but debate over GM continues
Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
In a dramatic move, India’s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh halted
the commercial cultivation of “Bt brinjal”, the world’s first
genetically modified (GM) eggplant with insecticidal toxin protein from
the soil bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis). BT brinjal is intended
to target the shoot and fruit borer insect pest of the crop.
The Minister made his announcement on 9 February 2010 after a series
of public hearings in seven states and a consultation process with
scientists, agricultural experts, farmers’ organizations, consumer
groups, and non-governmental organizations. He said: “It is my duty to
adopt a cautious, precautionary, principle-based approach... till such
time as independent scientific studies establishes to the satisfaction
of both the public and professionals the safety of the product.”
The brinjal crop has a special place in Indian agriculture. India is
the largest producer of the crop in the world and its country of origin.
Some 2,500 varieties are cultivated by Indian farmers, among which,
those with natural resistance to the brinjal shoot and fruit borer
insect already exist. As the crop is largely cross-pollinated, transgene
contamination poses a big problem in protecting the natural
biodiversity.
Ramesh’s decision was widely hailed as a major victory for civil
society and Indian democracy. The Environment Minister achieved the
status of a national hero for standing up to intense pressure from the
USA and its agents that had already manipulated India’s national Genetic
Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) to approve commercial planting of
Bt brinjal. Ramesh pointedly renamed GEAC to Genetic Engineering
Appraisal Committee on announcing the moratorium.
Ramesh’s announcement of the moratorium included the following:
* There was no over-riding food security problem, production shortage
or farmer distress arguments favouring release of Bt brinjal other than
the need to reduce pesticide use.
* The Chief Ministers of nine Indian states wrote to the Environment
Minister asking for a ban on Bt brinjal till further studies on impacts
were available.
* Non-Pesticide Management or NPM - a part of the National Mission on
Sustainable Agriculture (one of the missions under the National Action
Plan on Climate Change) - scored over Bt technology as it eliminates
chemical pesticide use completely whereas Bt technology only reduces the
need for pesticide sprays.
* Many countries, particularly in Europe, have banned GM foods.
China’s policy is to be extremely cautious about introduction of GM in
food crops, even when it has a very strong publicly-funded program in GM
technology, unlike India.
* Scientists in the USA, France, Australia, UK and New Zealand have
written to the Minister raising very serious doubts on the way tests
have been conducted in India for Bt brinjal. Seventeen noted scientists
from different countries addressed a joint letter to the Prime Minister
on 8 February 2010 giving scientific reasons against the release of Bt
brinjal.
* Doctors for Food and Safety, a network of doctors across the
country, have warned of the health hazards related to GM foods in
general, Bt brinjal in particular, and the possibility of losing the
medicinal properties of brinjal used in Ayurveda, Siddha, Homeopathy and
Unani (Indian systems of medicine).
Dominance by GM Seed
US agbiotech giant Monsanto and several other corporations have been
consolidating their control of the world’s seed supply to such an extent
that it has triggered a nation-wide anti-trust hearing in the US.
Claude Alvares, Director of the Central Secretariat of the Organic
Farming Association of India based in Goa, accuses Monsanto of poaching
India’s seeds and replacing them with its own. Monsanto, via its Indian
subsidiary Mahyco, has been making inroads into India’s agriculture and
agricultural resources in what amounts to neo-colonialism by GM seed.
This involves taking the country’s seeds for direct genetic
modification, or hybridising the indigenous varieties with Monsanto’s
own patented GM varieties, thereby establishing ownership over the
indigenous varieties and the hybrid seeds. In the process, the
indigenous varieties also become contaminated forever.
This process began in earnest with the commercial approval of Bt
cotton in 2003. Bt cotton in the guised of hundreds of hybrids with
Indian varieties, spread rapidly throughout the country, despite
strenuous protests from farmers and consumers; the consequences were
disastrous.
Bt cotton accelerated farm suicides by increasing farmers’ burden of
debt. Crop failures or bad harvests for two successive seasons on top of
the exorbitant cost of GM seeds would be enough to build up debt to a
level that drives farmers to take their own lives. Furthermore, Bt
cotton soon created secondary and new pests, resistant pests, new
diseases, and above all, soils so depleted in nutrients and beneficial
microorganisms that they may cease to support the growth of any crop in
a decade.
It was the Bt cotton crisis that has galvanised the entire nation to
oppose Monsanto’s Bt brinjal.
The Fight Continues
The Environment Minister’s decision to halt Bt brinjal was promptly
attacked by two other ministers in the Indian Cabinet, the Minister of
Science and Technology (responsible for the Department of Biotechnology)
and the Minister of Agriculture. On 24 February, the Prime Minister
called a meeting at which it was resolved that the moratorium on Bt
brinjal and GM food crops would continue.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Science and Technology resurrected the
Biotechology Regulatory Authority Bill drawn up by his Ministry, which
had been in cold storage for eight years, and pressed for its
introduction in Parliament. The bill transfers control of making
decision on genetic engineering from the Ministry of Environment to the
Ministry of Science and Technology. One of the most draconian features
of the bill is the right to imprison and fine critics of biotechnology.
The relevant clause states: “Whoever, without any evidence or
scientific record misleads the public about the safety of the organisms
and products specified in Part I or Part II or Part III of the Schedule
I, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be
less than six months but which may extend to one year and with fine,
which may extend to two lakh rupees or with both.”
The bill also includes punishments for illegal introduction of GM
crops, “though if past experience is any guide, these will hardly be
implemented,” says Alvares.
- Third World Network Features
|