A Push for GM Mustard Disregarding Science, the Law

Why in News?

• There has been an ongoing battle in the Supreme Court of India between environmentalists and Delhi University’s genetically modified (GM) herbicide-tolerant (HT) mustard.
• As soon as the government took the decision to release India’s first GM food crop Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11) for “environment release”, some activists approached the SC to ban it for various reasons.

 

GM (Genetically Modified) Crops and GM Mustard

• GM Crops
  • GM crops are quite different from conventional varieties and hybrids, such as those developed by farmers, agricultural research institutions and companies.
  • Biotechnologists insert select genes at a random location in the DNA of a plant to develop a GM crop.
  • The insertion makes a GM crop express traits that it ordinarily would not.For instance, GM mustard has been altered to withstand the broad-spectrum plant-killer or herbicide glufosinate.
  • This makes it easier to develop hybrid mustard seeds for higher yields. And farmers growing GM mustard can spray the herbicide to kill all plants except the mustard.
• GM Mustard
  • The DMH-11, developed by scientists at Delhi University’s Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), contains two alien genes (namely ‘barnase’ and barstar’ genes) isolated from a soil bacterium called Bacillus amyloliquefaciens.
  • Mustard varieties in India have a narrow genetic base. The barnase-barstar system enables breeding of hybrids from a wider range of mustards, including those of East European origin such as ‘Heera’ and ‘Donskaja’.
  • DMH-11 is also claimed to have shown an average 28% yield increase over Varunain contained field trials carried out by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
  • New hybrid GM seeds could potentially raise mustard yields to 3.0-3.5 tonnes per hectare, up from around 1.3 tonnes now.

 

Evolution of GM Crops in India

• First GM crop was released under Vajpayee government with the slogan of Jai Vigyan.
• Indian farmers started cultivating Bt cotton, a pest-resistant, GM version of cotton, in 2002-03.
• Bt modification is a type of genetic modification where the Bt gene obtained from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis is introduced into the target crop - in this case, cotton.
• Bt cotton is resistant to bollworm, a pest that destroys cotton plants.
• By 2014, around 96% of the area under cotton cultivation in India was Bt cotton, making India the fourth-largest cultivator of GM crops by acreage and the second largest producer of cotton.

 

Ongoing Debate on GM Crops in India

• Safety and Efficiency: Environmentalists, scientists, politicians, farmers, consumers, and the higher judiciary have asked probing questions about the safety, efficacy and even the very necessity of GM food.
• Experience with Bt Cotton
  • Many have been alarmed by the experience with Bt cotton, the first and only GM crop approved in the country.
  • Long-term research suggests that Bt cotton has provided only fleeting benefits to farmers, while enormously increasing their costs of cultivation and risk.
  • On the other hand, some seed companies have profited handsomely from the expensive GM seeds.
• Potential Emergence of Increased Pesticides: Experience from enhanced sucking pest damage in Bt cotton; Environmentalists fear increase in secondary pests such as mired bugs and Spodoptera; and the emergence of pest resistance.
• Impact on environment and human health: There are concerns over environmental and health implications in terms of toxicity and allergenicity that can cause hematotoxin reactions in the human body.

 

Committees to Examine GM Crops

• In the wake of the fierce debate, two Standing Committees of the Parliament independently and comprehensively examined GM crops and food. The SC also appointed a Technical Expert Committee (TEC).
• Thus, there are two reports concerning GM food from the highest legislative body in the country:
  • One by the Standing Committee on Agriculture (2012) during Manmohan Singh’s government
  • And another by the Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests (2017) during Narendra Modi’s government.
• Both committees included MPs from the ruling and Opposition parties.

 

Committee Reports

• Weaknesses in the regulatory system: Working across an interval of five years, the two committees unanimously highlighted major weaknesses in the regulatory system, and called for utmost caution before releasing GM food. 
• Assessment of environmental safety
  • The Committee on S&T made a specific reference to GM mustard, and asked the government to conduct a thorough, independent, and transparent assessment of long-term biosafety, environmental risk, and socio-economic impacts. 
  • Five of the six TEC members also pointed to grave deficiencies in the safety assessment of GM crops in their report that was released in 2013.
  • They found HT crops “completely unsuitable in the Indian context” and warned of serious harm to the environment, rural livelihoods, and sustainable agriculture if they were released.
• Convergence in risk assessment
  • The committee reports suggest decisive convergence among noted scientists and the people’s elected representatives.
  • This is as compelling a case as can be against releasing any HT crop, and for comprehensively strengthening regulation before allowing GM food.
  • Such convergence refutes the prejudice that critics of GM crops are against development.

 

Why the Government is Facing Criticism on GM Mustard from a Section of Activists?

• Disregarding Science and the Law
  • The government is pushing ahead with GM mustard with reckless disregard for both science and the law.
  • For instance, it has not placed the full biosafety dossier of GM mustard in the public domain, despite the provisions of the RTI Act and a declaration to this effect by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee of the Environment Ministry.
  • Nor is it adequately responding to criticisms from agricultural scientists that already available non-GM mustard hybrids have better yields than GM mustard.
• Misleading the Court
  • In recent hearings in the SC, to get around the growing evidence of long-term ecological and health risks of HT crops, the government has argued that GM mustard should not be considered HT at all- since the objective for developing it was to improve yields.
  • A crop that can withstand herbicides is an HT crop. As far as the science of biotechnology and ecology go, there is no doubt that GM mustard is an HT crop.
  • The government’s argument is nothing but a red herring.

 

Way Forward

• Given the overwhelming political and technical consensus, the government needs to approach the issue of HT crops transparently and robustly with an emphasis on precaution. 
• Instead of misleading the court, the government should seriously engage with constitutional issues involving public health, environmental protection, and agricultural livelihoods.
• Science-based concerns and opposition to GM mustard must be heard and the government should start a fresh deliberation.

 

Conclusion

• The opposition to GM food crops is not new and is ongoing on the issue of advantages and disadvantages of GM crops.
• For now, the ongoing battle in the SC stands between GM food and Indian farmers and consumers.
• If the SC allows GM mustard to go through, it will likely pave the way for the release of other HT crops such as cotton, rice, and maize.

 

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Q1) What is GEAC?

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), is responsible for the assessment of proposals related to the release of genetically engineered organisms and products into the environment, including experimental field trials. GEAC or people authorised by it have the power to take punitive actions under the Environment Protection Act.

 

Q2) Why is the fear of GM crops unfounded?

The reservations expressed and objections related to GM crops are not new. These were also expressed when India imported the dwarf miracle seeds of wheat and rice in 1966 to achieve food self-sufficiency through the Green Revolution and also when Bt Cotton was being released in 2002. Bt cotton’s success in boosting yields and turning India from an importer to the world’s second largest exporter is well-documented. Also, no adverse outcomes have been reported from the consumption of its oil and seed cake fed to cattle over the last 20 years.

 

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Source: The Hindu