From Karnal to Coimbatore, genetically modified (GM) crops are becoming a matter of great concern for Indians worried about safety as well as loss of biodiversity. Various groups in Tamil Nadu, such as Pasumai Thayagam, an NGO supported by the PMK party, Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA) and Socio Education Trust, are protesting against GM crops. They have the support of Greenpeace India, Care Earth, Eco-Science Research Foundation, Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Technology Organisation, Erode District Organic Farmers’ Association and several others that have launched a week-long campaign for a Tamil Nadu free of GM crops.

The Union commerce ministry has decided to intervene and ask the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) not to approve field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in Basmati rice growing states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and western Uttar Pradesh. The consensus emerged at a recent meeting of stakeholders convened by the commerce ministry. The meeting among others were attended by the chairman of Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (Apeda), Sashi Sareen of Export Inspection Council of India, advisor to the department of biotechnology, KK Tripathi and representatives of the All India Rice Exporters Association (Airea).

The Union commerce ministry has decided to intervene and ask the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) not to approve field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in Basmati rice growing states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and western Uttar Pradesh. The consensus emerged at a recent meeting of stakeholders convened by the commerce ministry. The meeting among others were attended by the chairman of Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (Apeda), Sashi Sareen of Export Inspection Council of India, advisor to the department of biotechnology, KK Tripathi and representatives of the All India Rice Exporters Association (Airea).

Stung by charges of plagiarism, the R A Mashelkar committee, which had recommended drastic widening of the scope of patentability in India, has taken the unusual step of withdrawing its controversial report. In a letter dated February 19, Mashelkar, former head of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, requested the commerce ministry to allow the committee to ”withdraw the report, re-examine it and resubmit a report, which meets with the requirements of the highest standards.” This followed an article in TOI on February 12 exposing the fact that key excerpts of the Mashelkar committee report submitted in December were reproduced almost verbatim (although without acknowledgement) from a paper published by UK-based, industry-friendly think tank.

FOUNDER-CHAIRMAN of the International Society for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), Dr Clive James,says the time has come for governments to state decisively whether to say yes to key food crops linked to alleviation of hunger such as GM rice.

A new study on the introduction of Bt cotton in Vidarbha reveals that it has failed in the region. Suman Sahai, Director of Gene Campaign, told journalists on Wednesday that despite specific knowledge that Bt cotton would not work in rainfed areas, the government had introduced it in Vidarbha. The result was that in an area with a history of indebtedness, the high input costs of Bt cotton had increased indebtedness. The study had shown that 70 per cent of small farmers had already lost their landholdings as collateral for loans that they could never repay.

or all the hype over the rapid adoption of Bt cottonseed in Warangal, a key cotton growing district of Andhra Pradesh known for suicides by farmers, a new study by a scholar of Washington University has found that the acceptability was nothing more than a fad. In his study published in the February issue of Current Anthropology, Glenn Davis Stone explores how the arrival of genetically modified crops has affected farmers in developing countries, taking Warangal, as an example.

The Deccan Development Society (DDS) has asked the Government to declare a moratorium on the cultivation of Bt hybrids until a comprehensive study is undertaken on the possible impact of Bt hybrids on environment, livestock and human health. In a statement, M. Abdul Qayuum and S. Kiran, DDS scientists, said the deleterious affects of Bt cotton on livestock have resurfaced in Warangal district. In Gammadavelli village, symptoms appeared more on the goats compared to sheep. Bloating of stomach, mucous flow from nostrils, reddish urination were some of the symptoms. Besides, some shepherds also had bloating of stomach and skin allergies in the neck region, the release said.

Amid agrarian unrest over special economic zones and crop losses, some NGOs are mobilising support to fight genetically modified crops. In Chitrakoot district in the backward and parched Bundelkhand area in Uttar Pradesh, where villages routinely empty due to migration, an NGO has persuaded 64 villages to pledge against growing GM crops. Villagers of Chitrakoot and Banda districts gathered in Ganivan in Chitrakoot on February 8 and took the pledge administered by Forum for Biotechnology & Food Security.

The Canada-based International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in collaboration with the Gene Campaign has launched a research study on the attitudes and perceptions towards genetically modified (GM) crops and foods in India. The study, launched on Wednesday, is slated to be completed within 30 months. IDRC has undertaken a similar study in China relating to the agri-biotechnology policy.