Suman Sahai
It is
extremely disappointing that our PM has chosen to make such a strong pitch in
favour of GM foods and trashed those who hold different views on the
acceptability of such foods as “unscientific prejudices”. The current Prime
Minister is a specialist in agriculture and among the most highly educated
political leaders of today. He knows more than most about the large and diverse
set of problems that beset Indian agriculture. Does the Prime Minister seriously
believe that GM crops are necessary to solve all the problems of Indian
agriculture and ensure food security? And are GM crops the silver bullets to
solve the problems of hunger and malnutrition?
This is not the first time that the Prime Minister has
used the Science Congress to throw his weight behind the promotion of GM crops.
His Agriculture Minister does it regularly too. Mr Pawar’s first response after
the passage of the Food Security Act (FSA) was to state that India could not
meet the targets set by the FSA unless it adopted GM crops. It would be helpful
if the Prime Minister and his office would also engage with the concerns
expressed by several scientists, members of civil society, farmer organizations
and concerned citizens about the safety and desirability of these crops. These
are not unscientific prejudices, they are most often, genuine concerns arising
from a high level of familiarity with the scientific evidence of harm resulting
from the consumption of GM foods. The results from feeding studies done on
animals, in many parts of the world are available in the public domain and they
show the risks that can be associated with eating GM foods.
Informed scientific opinion has expressed itself
repeatedly that research on farming systems and supporting better farm
practices, together with reviving the extension support to farmers and
strengthening market linkages are the key to making farming profitable and
banishing hunger.
It is deeply disappointing that a Prime Minister as
erudite as ours has willfully chosen to indulge in biased rhetoric and espouse
the controversial, as yet unproven contribution that GM crops can make to hunger
and malnutrition.
Gene Campaign believes that any technology including
GM technology can at best provide a solution to a particular problem when it is
implemented with extreme caution and stringent biosafety testing. It can in no
way provide answers to a complex situation like hunger.
