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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Follow Madhya Pradesh lead, farmer groups urge Rajasthan by Mohammed Iqbal

Follow Madhya Pradesh lead, farmer groups urge Rajasthan by Mohammed Iqbal

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published Published on May 2, 2011   modified Modified on May 2, 2011
“Declare State GM organisms-free on the lines of M.P., Bihar”

Farmer groups here on Sunday demanded that Rajasthan be declared a genetically modified (GM) organisms-free State on the lines of Madhya Pradesh, which has recently decided to prohibit any environmental release, including field trials, of GM seeds and crops in view of their safety and impact on human beings and environment still being in doubt.

Madhya Pradesh is the second State in the country, after Bihar, to officially oppose the GM organisms. The decision in Madhya Pradesh, which shares its borders with Rajasthan, was triggered by State-wide protests over U.S.-based agricultural bio-technology giant Monsanto's open-air field trials of GM maize in Jabalpur.

Significantly, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) was instructed by the Union Forests and Environment Ministry earlier this year not to clear any field trials of GM organisms without approval of the State Government concerned.

The Sajha Manch, Kisan Seva Samiti Mahasangh and the Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants' Society said in a joint statement here that Monsanto was trying to set in motion its field trials in Rajasthan through a “clandestine agreement” signed with the State Government for partnership in agricultural research and hybrid seed production.

Sajha Manch convenor Ashok Mathur said the State Government should learn a lesson from Madhya Pradesh and announce immediate cancellation of the controversial pact with Monsanto and six other companies giving them “unfettered rights” of research, production and distribution of seeds. “The status of the GM-free State would protect our agro-climate which has been put to a great risk.”

Kisan Seva Samiti Mahasangh general secretary Bhagwan S. Dadhich said the agreement with Monsanto and others, signed in July last year, would leave the very productive base of agriculturists “degraded, depleted and contaminated.” Together with the prohibition of field trials of GM seeds, the pact needed to be scrapped without delay, he added.

Welcoming the Madhya Pradesh Government's decision Centre for Community Economics secretary Sharad Joshi demanded that the Rajasthan Government follow suit and take steps for evolving alternative methods to develop seeds and crops suited to the State's climate and strengthen public institutions for agricultural research, besides appointing a Farmers' Commission.

The State Government has since appointed an expert committee comprising agricultural economists and bio-technologists for examining the controversial agreement's provisions and its impact on the agriculture sector. The committee's report is still awaited.

The three groups, representing farmers and civil society networks active across Rajasthan, have launched a State-wide campaign to apprise agriculturists and elected representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions of “horrific impact” of field trials of GM crops on environment, public health, farming, food security and livelihood security.

A massive demonstration was also held outside the State Assembly here during the Budget session on March 15 last demanding annulment of the pact signed under public-private partnership with Monsanto and others and refuting the bio-technology giant's “dubious claim” that its interventions would help develop high-yielding hybrid seeds and make a sustainable improvement in farmers' lives.

The Hindu, 2 May, 2011, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article1984600.ece


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