In February 2010, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, under Jairam Ramesh, announced a moratorium on the commercial promotion of Bt Brinjal in India. The UPA, after much fanfare, claimed that it was ‘listening to the voices’ of common people, scientists and civil society in stopping the introduction of Bt Brinjal and genetically modified crops. Now, after just four years, the UPA has given up all pretence and has now once again surrendered to the corporate interests of big agri-business companies such as Monsanto. Environment Minister Veerappa Moily has allowed the field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in India – even as environmentalists, farmers, and several scientists have cautioned against this move.
Across the world, several issues regarding GM crops continue to be raised. Apart from the largely unknown health and safety impacts of GM crops, even the tall claims of ‘high yields’ and protection from pest damage for instance have been proved to be highly questionable. Even the science of genetically modified crops continues to evolve, the UPA seems hell bent to run roughshod over all concerns and push through GM crops at all costs. Time and again, several environmentalists and experts in the field of agriculture have pointed out that the burning questions of food security, malnutrition and agrarian crisis cannot be solved through GM crops.
Moreover, even the Supreme Court appointed Expert Committee and the UPA’s own parliamentary standing committee on Agriculture has recommended against field testing of GM crops, given the widespread concerns over the health and environmental impacts of GM crops. From the experience of Bt Cotton in different parts of the country, it is clear that only huge multinational agri-business interests benefit from GM crops – making huge profits, establishing a virtual monopoly over agricultural inputs. Clearly, it is this dangerous unholy nexus between biotech agricultural companies and a subservient government that has resulted in the lifting of the moratorium on GM crops in India. CPI(ML) strongly condemns this move by the UPA.
