Gujarat Government has appealed to the Centre to defer its move to give approval for commercial farming of Bt Brinjal in the country. ”The Centre should take into account the views of all stakeholders and conduct a long-term research on Bt Brinjal’s bio-safety and its consequent contributions to food security and farmers’ well being,” Gujarat Agriculture Minister Dilip Sanghani told PTI over phone today.

Jairam Ramesh Bharat Krishak Samaj (BKS), a leading all-India organisation of farmers, has come out in support of genetically modified crops, saying their use will help cut down expenses on pesticides for better returns on yields. BKS urged the government to also promote research on crop biotechnology to evolve varieties that could withstand drought and erratic weather.

The debate over the petridish baingan is hotting up. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh’s sudden recourse to public consultations, after Bt Brinjal was cleared as India’s first genetically modified food crop, has exposed serious regulatory lapses. TOI-Crest looks at the challenge posed by this humble vegetable.

Farmers and others who were opposing the introduction of Bt brinjal got support from an unexpected quarter during the course of the discussion. T V Jagadishan, former managing director (India) of Monsanto, the company which proposes to introduce Bt brinjal, was quite vocal in his opposition. He made it clear that Monsanto was in the habit of controlling the market and making money.

”The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has given the go-ahead and my role is limited to deciding if transgenic brinjal needs to be commercialised. I have met with over 8,000 persons during the last seven public hearing programmes. My decision will have to take into consideration all the stake-holders and would be final. It would not be referred to another committee or be heard by a Parliamentary committee,” [Mr Jairam Ramesh, the Union minister for environment and forest] added

”A majority of chief ministers have written to me on the issue have opposed the introduction of Bt brinjal,” Ramesh told IANS Saturday after a four-hour brain-storming session on the controversial issue. [...] ”I have got response from the major brinjal cultivating states. About 60 percent of brinjal in India is cultivated in West Bengal (30 percent), Orissa (20 percent) and Bihar (10 percent). All these states have opposed its introduction,” Ramesh said.

The advocate who irked Jairam Ramesh at the press conference, Hemant Goswami, has filed a Public Interest Litigation before the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the constitutional validity of the consultation committee and the process of validating policies concerning agriculture and pest research. Few days ago the Environment Minister was visibly upset with Hemant Goswani at a public discussion.

BT Brinjal must be promoted in India because it promises to reduce wastage due to pests. As it minimises the need for chemical pesticide, Bt Brinjal is also environment friendly. For farmers’ sake, BT Brinjal must be given a fair chance. FIRST OF all, it is important to realise that as the world’s population grows and the extent of arable land decreases, the only way of ensuring food for all is by increasing productivity.

Hoping to persuade Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh against allowing the production of genetically modified (GM) Bt Brinjal in India, climate NGO Greenpeace has launched an online campaign, ’World’s Biggest Baingan Bhartha’ and are collecting people’s signatures against the government’s plan. Demanding that the government reverse its decision, farmers, scientists and NGOs have staged angry demonstrations and disrupted public hearings organised by the environment ministry on the issue in the past few days.

Ramesh seems to have given a new twist to this debate by saying that GEAC itself had suggested government intervention. ”Since this decision of GEAC has important policy implications at the national level, GEAC has decided the recommendation for environmental release may be put up before the government for taking a final view on the matter,” Ramesh told Business Standard as he read from a letter dated September 15, 2009. GEAC Chairman M Farooqui, who is also special secretary in the environment ministry, confirmed such a letter had been sent before he took over in December. In a more direct attack on his ministerial colleagues, Ramesh said: ”Bt brinjal is not just a farmer issue. We cannot ignore larger consumer groups.”