Pawar, Shetty oppose ban on field trials of GM crops

Shetty is Pawar's political rival and now key ally of the BJP at the Centre

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and former agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday  strongly opposed a ban on the field trials of genetically-modified (GM) crops.

“Unless and until trials are allowed and their results are released, how can one know what will be the impact of GM crops on human beings, animals and land? Therefore, trials should be allowed. A ban is unwarranted,” Pawar told Business Standard. Pawar, who is a strong advocate of GM technology in crops, said a lot of people in India were consuming oil made out of GM soybean produced in the US. He added that GM technology helps farmers maintain soil quality and save money.

Pawar was responding to the demand made by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-linked Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Bhartiya Kisan Sangh about banning field trials of GM crops including certain varieties of rice, brinjal and cotton among others.

Union minister of environment and forests Prakash Javadekar has said that the government has not taken any decision on the contentious issue.

However, Pawar said if the government ultimately decides to put field trials of GM crops on hold, he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a plea to reconsider the ban.

Interestingly, Pawar’s political rival and now key ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre, the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) is on the same page as the NCP on the contentious issue. Speaking to Business Standard on Thursday, SSS chief and member of Parliament Raju Shetty made a strong case for field trials of GM crops. However, he noted that GM technology should be applied only after trials.

Shetty alleged that powerful lobbies from the seed and pesticide industries were opposing field trials. He appealed to the Centre not to succumb to such pressures.

Shetty added that he would soon write to Modi, requesting him to permit field trials of GM crops.

Speaking to Business Standard, N K Singh, secretary of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) said, “NAAS does not believe that there should be any ban on research and testing of GM food crops. This is necessary to ensure the safety of GM crop events because without testing, we cannot conclude whether the specific event is safe or not. The era of biotechnology crops is here and we cannot close our eyes to it.” He noted that GM research and development in India, be it public or by private industry is needed to fight the monopolisation of future seed business by foreign MNCs.

In its recent research paper, NAAS had said GM crop technology was a promising, relevant and efficient technology for low-input, high-output agriculture to improve crops where conventional breeding tools had not been effective. GM technology would be a tool to improve agricultural crops for their nutritional value, nutrient & water use efficiency, productivity, tolerance/resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, the paper added.