The Madhya Pradesh government has reiterated it stand opposing Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill, and said that it would not allow centre to encroach its domain.
Agriculture minister Ramkrishna Kusmaria said the Bill seeks to encroach upon state domain as agriculture is purely a state subject. The Bill violates the very spirit of Indian constitution and federal polity, he added. "There are laws in India which needs to be implemented in a proper way, the centre should exercise upon implementing those laws. We do not need a bio-regulatory bill. We need a bio-safety law," Kusmaria said.
On May 1, Kusmaria wrote to Union Science minister Jaipal Reddy in protest and said this bill was anti-farmer. "It (BRAI Bill) overrides states' authority over agriculture and in lieu the Centre wants to limit us to play only an advisory role?" he asks and asserted, "In no case we will allow it."
The bill envisages states in the form of a state biotechnology regulatory advisory committee in agriculture matters. Kusmaria has strong objection on certain sections of the Bill. "They want entire domestic intellectual properties in agriculture matters to be controlled by few international corporations and we would not let it happen," the Minister said, "We have larger acreage in organic farming and is rising. In no case we will allow field trials of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the State," he added.
Madhya Pradesh, for the last five years, has given encouraging results in organic farming with 40,000 hectares of land under the cover. Also, use of organic manure and gradual discontinuation of chemical fertilizers is on the rise across the state, particularly in Hoshangabad, Harda, Sagar, Damoh and Jabalpur districts. Madhya Pradesh still produces non-GMO soya and wheat although seed contamination cannot be ruled out. State, known as soya bowl of India, has nearly 15 million hectare of land of which 11-12 million is arable.
