”There was no barrier around the whole field and I visited the field five times, which should not have been allowed,” said Selvam. R. Selvam, president of the Erode District Organic Farmers Federation. First cotton; now brinjal. Both have their centre of origin in India and this must be one of the few countries where there has been very little debate on the safety or even necessity of genetically modified (GM) crops. While Bt cotton is already grow in in India, there are growing protests against the release of India’s first GM food crop: brinjal.