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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | “Farmers don’t agree Bt Cotton is a threat to rural life” by Gargi Parsai

“Farmers don’t agree Bt Cotton is a threat to rural life” by Gargi Parsai

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published Published on Dec 4, 2009   modified Modified on Dec 4, 2009

Transgenic Cotton being hastily pushed in India,

says researcher

Technological alternatives available to switch from conventional production

NEW DELHI: A panel discussion on ‘GM Foods and Food Security’ held here on Thursday highlighted differing opinions on the controversial subject, although the majority opinion was in favour of GM crops.

Participating in the discussion, organised by the Institute of Economic Growth, Ronald Herring of Cornell University pointed out that Bt Cotton in India played an important role in global debates on transgenic crops. “It first hinted at the pervasive character of stealth (illegal) seeds that embarrasses both sides of the global political divide. Opponents of biotechnology ground their critiques on monopoly and control of seeds by MNCs; developmentalists supporting biotechnology cite assurances of states and firms that biosafety regimes will be in place and effective.”

“The construction of Bt Cotton as a ‘GMO’ (genetically modified organism) threatening rural life proves to have little resonance with most cotton farmers who found a trait that proved broadly useful in terms of agronomics, economics and environment,” said Dr. Herring.

While the former Chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, S. Mahendra Dev, said Bt Cotton technology was superior to the conventional hybrids in terms of yield and net results, writer and researcher Devinder Sharma asserted that transgenic cotton was being hastily pushed in India as a viable alternative to the chemical intensive farming system.

According to Dr. Sharma, there is sufficient evidence to show that technological alternatives do exist, promising a switch from conventional cotton production systems to more sustainable methods.

K.C. Bansal, Coordinator of the ICAR (Indian Council for Agriculture Research) Network Project on Transgenic Crops at the National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, said that in India research was on 16 GM crops in 10 universities, while five multi-nationals too were working on GM crops.

According to him, the Bt crops in the pipeline include rice, brinjal, okra, cabbage, cauliflower, chickpea, pigeon pea and sugarcane as a response to stress from salinity, high and low temperatures. “The idea is to save on water.”

Speaking on ‘Biofortification of Staple Food Crops,’ J.V. Meenakshi, a senior lecturer from the Delhi School of Economics, pointed out that based on micronutrient rates, there was “compelling evidence” that biofortification could be a key objective for plant breeders.

This would be in addition to the traditional objectives of disease resistance, yield, drought tolerance etc. Giving the example of vitamin-A fortification of rice (golden rice), she said the challenge was to get consumer acceptance for biofortified crops, thereby increasing the intake of the target nutrients.

Shanthu Shantharam, President of Bio-logistics International, Biotech Management and Consulting Company in the United States and senior research fellow at Princeton University, emphasised that scientists must provide information to answer arguments against introduction of transgenic crops in the Centres of Origin and / or Centres of Diversity.
 


The Hindu, 4 December, 2009, http://www.hindu.com/2009/12/04/stories/2009120459621400.htm
 

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