Kerala is split when it comes to the genetically modified. While the government has consistently taken a position against anything GM, and has vowed to keep the state GM-free as a matter of policy, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which rules the state, has quite the opposite view. The differences have now come into the open in the wake of recent approval from the genetic engineering approval committee (GEAC) of the Union ministry of environment & forests for GM rubber.
The ministry has upheld the permission granted to the Rubber Research Institute, affiliated to the state-owned Rubber Board, to hold field trials in Maharashtra and Kerala. While Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthananthan has issued a statement against GM crops, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh responded with a letter asking for the state’s decision on the matter.
The chief minister has now called for a meeting of scientists, activists, rubber growers and other stakeholders later this month for consultations before taking a final stand. This has sent a shiver down the spine of all those who had taken the anti-GM stand of the state government for granted (after it opposed BT brinjal.
In fact, in the run up to the environment ministry’s decision to call for a moratorium on BT brinjal, it was the Kerala government under Achuthananthan that had called a meeting of state agricultural ministers and issued a joint memorandum banning it from their states.
But the divide within the state has come out into the open after S Ramachandran Pillai, CPM politburo member, spoke in favour of GM
Pillai told Business Standard that there was nothing new in the party’s position on GM rubber. “Our position is that research & development should be done by the public sector and not in the private sector, as that alone would make GM technology available at cheap rates,” said Pillai.
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He said it would be disastrous for rubber growers in Kerala to not use GM technology, as the state could lose its position as the premier rubber grower in the world. He, however, clarified that his and the party’s position is not related to that of the state government.
Biodiversity Board former chairman V S Vijayan said the Kerala government stand has been to keep the state GM free. The request for biosafety research level-I field trials by the Rubber Research Institute of India, Kottayam, received clearance from GEAC in November last year. Trials were approved in two locations: Dapchari in Maharashtra and Chethackal in Kerala. The trials were for the purpose of developing a disease-resistant varieties and increase output, GEAC says.
NGOs and activists who had partnered the state government in its battle against BT brinjal are not too confident this time. “We are not sure what will happen, as contradictory signals are coming from the government. This kind of confusion is not good for the people and for a safe environment,” said Usha S, director of Thanal, an NGO.
She argues that the same dangers feared in BT brinjal are present in GM rubber. The crop takes seven years before it starts flowering. Hence, a field trial would see a minimum life of seven to eight years for the GM rubber tree. The flowers would then infect honey bees, who can spread the pollen to other plants, she says.
Kerala Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran has tried to reconcile the party and government lines by taking the stand that he is neither pro- nor anti-GM, but pro-Kerala. He says the government has been in favour of keeping Kerala GM free and stands by that even now.
He said that while GM was a controversial subject that the scientific and academic community was not agreed on it anywhere, Kerala was a unique case as it was small and densely populated. Hence, there were specific fears related to having trials there. He said a second round of consultations called for January 25 by the chief minister would help clear the air on the matter.