Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Beware the kill switch of agriculture -Prabhakaran Nair

Beware the kill switch of agriculture -Prabhakaran Nair

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jul 13, 2017   modified Modified on Jul 13, 2017
-The Indian Express

Makka ki roti aur sarson ka sag is a popular food item in northern India, in particular, Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh where both maize and mustard are widely grown. All vegetarian dishes made in much of northern, eastern and western India are cooked in mustard (sarson) oil. Why, suddenly, has mustard taken centre stage? GM mustard has begun to stir both the scientific and activist lobbies, the latter vehemently against it, while the former is keeping its fingers crossed. This piece is about the now controversial Dhara GM mustard hybrid-11 or DMH-11, developed by scientists of Delhi University, with former Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental in the lead.

Why is the DMH-11, the “herbicide tolerant” mustard, which received the green signal from the GEAC (Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee) dangerous? The WHO has labelled glyphosate as a carcinogen and there is incontrovertible field evidence from Argentina, which cultivates a lot of GM soybean, commercially known as “Round Up Ready” soybean. The herbicide Round Up led to multitudes of grave birth defects in children. When a sarson farmer grows DMH-11, he is advised to spray the herbicide Basta which kills weeds and plants, except the GM mustard. The herbicide is manufactured by Bayer, the German agro-chemical company which recently acquired Monsanto. Basta’s chemical constituent is glufosinate—a neurotoxin on the same platform as glyphosate.

A parallel is GM brinjal, peddled by Mahyco (Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company), an arm of Monsanto, during UPA-II. Late Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal, responding to a PIL, noted that the entire question of GM crops must be examined by an independent expert committee. A committee was formulated by the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad; I was unanimously chosen as its chairman. The committee found several lapses, in field data and laboratory biosafety evaluation, and submitted its report to the Supreme Court in October 2006. I also wrote an open letter to the Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh against Bt brinjal, published in The New Indian Express on February 9, 2010. All of these efforts led to the clamping of an indefinite moratorium on Bt brinjal on February 10, 2010, which stands to date. And now, the haste and secrecy with which the GEAC is moving on mustard gives rise to much suspicion.

Please click here to read more.

The Indian Express, 12 July, 2017, http://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2017/jul/12/beware-the-kill-switch-of-agriculture-1627604--1.html


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close