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Late on the evening of March 21, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) approved field trials of 11 varieties of genetically-modified (GM) crops that had come to it for re-validation. By doing so, it gave a push to a process that had been struck for almost a year.
GEAC, which functions under the supervision of the ministry of environment and forest, decided to re-validate the field trials of genetically-modified maize, wheat, rice, cotton and sorghum after a marathon four-hour long meeting, which, according to some insiders, was marked by an acrimonious debate and even a note of dissent by one of the participants. The approval followed a go-ahead from Environment Minister Veerappa Moily, who decided to break the logjam that had resulted after his predecessor, Jayanthi Natarajan, refused to clear GEAC-approved field trials.
Officials said Natarajan had been of the opinion that granting approval when a six-member Supreme Court-appointed technical expert committee had called for an indefinite moratorium on field trials of GM crops, over concerns about their long-term safety would be improper. The expert committee's final order had made approval for field trials of these crops illegitimate. The ministry of environment and forest, and the department of agriculture have now challenged the order in the Supreme Court. After Moily took over, GEAC went through the process of granting approval again. This time, it got the nod from Moily's ministry.
However, mere approval of the GEAC does not mean that field trials can start in the coming kharif sowing season. In fact, there is a chance that nothing might come of the approval, given that most states where the trials are to be conducted are not in favour of them. GEAC had, in an order issued in July 2011, mandated that the field trial of any GM crop cleared by it would have to be permitted by the state governments because agriculture falls in the concurrent list.
GEAC had made a no-objection certificate from the state government mandatory after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wrote to Jairam Ramesh, then the environment and forest minister, requesting him to immediately put a stop to the field trials of GM maize in the state. Some other state governments had also written in with similar requests.
A majority of the 29 states are opposed to the field trial of GM crops. Some others are waiting for the Lok Sabha elections to get over before they take a call, while a few are willing to give conditional permission. Their condition is that they will allow trials for only non-food crops.
Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra are the only three states that have clearly spelt their stand in favour of GM crops. Of the crops approved for trials, wheat, rice, maize and sorghum are grown in states that are against the field trials.
GEAC rules recognise a field trial only if it is conducted in all the states mentioned in the application. However, it will be extremely difficult for companies, firms and research institutes to conduct multi-location field trials. This is why some firms are seeking nationwide approval for field trials that have been rejected because of strong opposition from some states, officials say. GEAC's approval has, meanwhile, come in for stinging criticism from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture that has called the move unfortunate.
"A lot depends on the decision of the state governments and on the next government at the Centre," says Rajesh Krishnan, co-convener of Coalition for GM-Free India, a non-governmental organisation. "The Supreme Court is also expected to hear the case against GM crops in April. On the whole I feel that GEAC's move will have a negative impact on the future of the debate around genetically-modified crops in India," he adds. Krishnan alleges that GEAC's hasty clearance shows that the United Progressive Alliance government wants to extend a favour to multinational seed companies before the elections.
Pushpa Bhargava, one of the most vocal critics of GM crops in India who is also part of GEAC, says the re-validation shows that something is amiss. A lot has happened between March 2013 (the last meeting of GEAC) and March 2014, but these issues have not been considered by the committee, he adds. For example, the recommendations of the Supreme Court's technical expert committee have been ignored. And fresh evidence on the harmful effects of GM crops from China too, he says.
The approval, however, comes as a huge relief for the biotech seed industry that has been waiting for this for more than a year now. "This (field trials) is only the beginning of a long-journey. The trials are only meant to check the efficacy of the gene or trait introduced and its agronomic desirability after factoring in all (food, feed and environmental) safety considerations and the quantum of the net economic benefit for farmers and consumers," says N Seetharama, executive director of the Association of Biotech-Led Enterprises-Agriculture, an organisation of India's bio-tech seed companies. "Once the transgenic event is approved, the same crop is to be bred for superior performance by traditional breeding methods and for adaptation under different target environment. This also takes a few years. The whole process is very long," he adds. Field trials alone will take at least a year.
Nevertheless, shares of bio-tech seed companies, including those of Monsanto India, a subsidiary of Monsanto Company USA, reflected the optimism that the approval brought to the sector. Monsanto India's stock jumped 5 per cent to hit the upper circuit on March 22 (a day after GEAC cleared the trials) before closing at Rs 1,484.3 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Stocks of Advanta and Bayer Crop Science rose 3.93 per cent and 1.41 per cent to close at Rs 121.75 and Rs 1,402.35, respectively. Rallis shares rose one per cent to Rs 162.65 a piece.
"We are anticipating that permission to conduct trails for other crops, requests for which are pending, will be given quickly. And we hope that states take a positive view and let the trials be conducted in the coming season," says Seetharama. "We also hope the government does away with the no-objection certificate needed for trials. And finally, we hope that regulatory bodies take prompt decisions, without political interference and on the basis of scientific merit alone," he adds.
Seetharama says the incoming government should revive the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority Bill (BRAI) and pass it in Parliament. BRAI is meant to replace GEAC as India's sole regulator for GM foods and crops, but this Bill could not be passed in the 15th Lok Sabha owning to stiff opposition from some parties. Activists allege that BRAI would only become a tool that will be exploited by big multinational seed companies.
A consensus on the issue of genetically-modified crops is clearly nowhere in sight.
