India’s aversion to genetically modified crops: Is there really any need for concern?

Recently, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), the highest authority in India approving the use of Genetically modified (GM) crops in the country has approved the use of Bt Brinjal for large scale field trials and seed production. This move has, as usual, faced stiff opposition from anti-GMO groups and environmental activists.

So what is the cause for concern here? Are GM crops inherently bad? To understand this, we have to first focus on why and how GM crops are created. A genetically modified organism (GMO), is any naturally occurring organisms whose genetic code (DNA) has been modified by the entry of genes not naturally present in it. These genes are mostly derived from other plant or animal sources specifically to impart certain desirable characteristics to the plant. For example, Bt in Bt Brinjal stands for Baccillus Thuringiensis, a bacterium whose genes have been used to impart pest resistance to the brinjal plant.

Controversy over GM crops are largely over their effect on the environment and humans. Concerns like they are “poisonous” or “cancerous” are often heard in anti-GMO circles. More informed debate on the topic also includes concerns over the cross breeding of these plants with native varieties and its effects, loss of native cultivars with rich genetic diversity due to these plants, metabolism of the proteins providing pest resistance in humans, monopoly of large corporate houses over seeds etc. These are all good questions and valid concerns. However, most of these aspects are thoroughly tested before any application to the GEAC for approval of a transgenic breed. On top of that, the GEAC can ask for more tests, and the crops must be field tested on a smaller scale before it can be introduced on a large commercial scale. The scientific community largely believes that GM crops are not a threat to human health and the environment, based on solid scientific evidence. Even our own experience with Bt Cotton has been largely positive, catapulting us to the number one spot in cotton exports globally and to number two in cotton production. However, the lobbying and political considerations have meant that the GEAC and the government have been averse at worse and lackadaisical at best over the issue of bio-engineered crops.

However, these issues, sometimes necessary and sometimes rather overzealous in their concern, have resulted in only one GM crop being approved for cultivation in India, Bt Cotton. We have no approved food crop that is transgenic. Even when GM Mustard, developed by scientists at University of Delhi, was approved by the GEAC in 2010, the then environment minister went on to put an indefinite hold on it. India is a country of vast population and a significantly low crop yield despite our large crop land and multiple growing seasons. Our demands are not being met with our current capacity, what would happen when our population surpasses that of china and our crop yield remains same? Is our fear of GM crops keeping us from maximizing and cashing in on a revolution that is not only beneficial, but maybe critically necessary for our food security? For comparison’s sake it is good to remember that there were similar issues and protests over the introduction of High Yielding Varieties (HYV) seeds during the Green Revolution, the usefulness of which is no longer debatable.

In all of this debate about larger concerns, those that suffer most are our farmers. They lack most advanced farming methods and tools and we make their tasks even harder by not letting them reap the benefits of disease resistant varieties with higher yields. Farmers have shown their dissatisfaction by staging ‘Satyagrahs’ and defying the ban on GM crops. The government has been unsuccessful in designing a better solution than uprooting the crops, hurting the famers even more. Farming is not a lucrative business in India, and hence we should aim to make the agricultural returns of our famers more remunerative.

It is time that the public in India not only understand, but accept that strides in the field of science and technology can help us, if used judiciously. We should stop shortchanging our progress over misplaced activism.