The Hindu Business Line : Call to shelve move on Bt brinjal

The Coalition for GM-Free India, an umbrella association of 250 organisations, farmers' associations and individuals opposing genetically modified foods, has called for an end to efforts to introduce Bt brinjal in India.

In a letter to Mr Bir Singh Parsheera, Chairperson of Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, the association asserted that there was no need for Bt brinjal to be introduced.

"This is not something that farmers have demanded. Almost all major farmers organisations have already rejected the proposal of entry of Bt brinjal," it said.

The letter was a response to GEAC's call for feedback on the bio-safety data and the proposal for field trials and seed production of Bt brinjal by Mahyco.

The last date for submitting feedback was Monday.

On bio-safety concerns, the Coalition said there was no independent study to test the bio-safety of Bt brinjal.

"The entire regulatory mechanism is relying on the developers of the product to come back to the regulators and actually report that something is indeed wrong with the process or product," it said.

Labelling

The letter wondered whether the GEAC would ensure labelling to distinguish between Bt and non-Bt brinjal in the marketplace. "What choices are being left to consumers of the country who want to remain GM-free," it asked.

It also pointed out that there was no crisis in the production of brinjal and found fault with the contention of the company that there were up to 80 sprays of pesticides on the brinjal crop.

The Coalition also wanted to know whether the GEAC or the Government would ensure procurement of the produce and offer minimum support price.

It took serious objection to multi-locational limited field trials being conducted in various locations in the open environment, in fields without adequate monitoring.

"No liability has been fixed for bio-safety violations, giving a clear message that bio-safety is not the regulator's primary concern at all," it observed.

The Coalition also pointed out that Bt brinjal had been compared with only conventionally grown brinjal, ignoring alternative farming practices using Integrated Pest Management and organic approaches.

Citing the use of brinjal in ayurveda, the Coalition wanted to know whether the GEAC or the company had any data on the impact of the Bt technology on the medicinal properties of brinjal.

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