Food is to European culture what free speech is to American culture. There may not always be a good scientific reason for concern, but to consider eating something that has resulted from some laboratory manoeuvring is felt by many Europeans as a kind of refutation of the true self. Whether judiciously or not, most Europeans are frightened to death of genetically modified food. And, this is not entirely a matter of Europeans’ falling victim to protectionist propaganda or frenzy. Trying to force genetically modified food down European throats is the surest way to guarantee that they swallow neither the potatoes nor a lot of the tactics to dump GM foods.

A Madhya Pradesh minister believes there is no difference between genetically modified (GM) crops and the East India Co, the British firm that began trading with India in 1600 but subsequently came to rule the country till 1858. And many farmers and activists agree with him.

[...] ’Commercial cultivation of Bt brinjal (a GM crop) will not be allowed in Madhya Pradesh,’ Kusmariya told IANS.

Several farmer leaders have sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reject the recommendation of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) for commercial release of Bt brinjal. Speaking to journalists here Rakesh Tikait of the Bhartiya Kisan Union, Yudhvir Singh of the Coordination Committee of Indian Farmers’ Movements, Vijay Jawandhia of Shetkari Sanghatan, Vidarbha, Kodihalli Chandrasekhar of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Kannaiyan of Tamizhaga Vyavasayigal Sangham and G.V. Ramanjaneyulu of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture said they had jointly sought an appointment with the Prime Minister to impress upon him to reject Bt brinjal.

Bt brinjal, or the country’s first genetically modified food crop, is unlikely to be available for commercial cultivation before late next year, and still requires mandatory clearances from three government ministries, say key officials involved with the regulatory process. On Wednesday, the genetic engineering approval committee (GEAC), a biotechnology regulatory authority ruled that genetically modified, or GM, brinjal was safe for commercial cultivation. This was after a GEAC subcommittee, constituted on the Supreme Court’s directive, reviewed the scientific data from two-year-long field trials in farmers’ fields.

You have to give it to India’s farmers. They have used American seed technology to beat the US at cotton production. In just four years since 2002, when genetically modified Bt cotton was introduced in India by the US multinational, Monsanto Holdings, production more than doubled to 21.80 million bales, while the US output increased from 17.20 million to 21.58 million bales.

aising concerns over the open air trial of genetically modified corn in Jabalpur, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has asked the state government to stop it. In letters to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the central government, AHRC also said the ”trial is being conducted to further the commercial interest of Monsanto” - the US-based seed company.

Greenpeace India, an international Non-Government Organisation (NGO), has delivered anti-Genetically Modified messages on behalf of more than 28,000 consumers across India demanding that Nestlé India commit to providing GM-free food now and in future. Greenpeace activists hung banners at the Nestlé India headquarters in Gurgaon this week.

On the ministry’s regulatory body’s agenda was a historic item: permission for the commercial cultivation of India’s first genetically modified food crop. [...] GEAC was forced to delay a decision on the approval till April 2009. This, because of two reports that found their way to the meeting. For India’s small but highly active and well-networked anti-GM lobby had managed to get their hands on Mahyco’s test results through a Right to Information petition.

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), the biotechnology regulator, Wednesday approved the commercialisation of genetically modified Bt brinjal. Bt Brinjal still needs the government’s nod before its release in the market. If it gets the nod, Bt Brinjal will be the first genetically modified food in India. Members of the committee, which met here, said the genetically modified crop had the potential to increase yields by a significant extent.

Indian soymeal exports may surge in the coming months, pushing up local prices by 10 percent, as Europe buys more varieties that are not genetically modified (GM), top industry officials and analysts said on Sunday. ”It is a possibility that India will export non-GM soymeal to the European Union this year. I can’t say how much can be exported,” leading analyst Thomas Mielke told an industry conference. Demand for Indian soymeal might push up prices by 10 percent to over $400 a tonne, cost and freight by December, said Davish Jain, head of the Central Organisation for Oils Industry and Trade.