Don’t believe the anti-GMO campaign (Supporting GMOs in India)

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Don’t believe the anti-GMO campaign (Supporting GMOs in India)

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• Worrisome recent article: The author finds a recent article by geneticist PC Kesavan and Dr MS Swaminathan, on GM foods, worrisome. They call Bt cotton a failure. Some have called that paper "deeply flawed". It can mislead many.
• Scientific evidence: That paper does not use evidence before thrashing Bt cotton. They say - "only in rare circumstances (less than 1%) may there arise the need to use GM technology". And then later say - "Genetic tech has opened up new avenues of molecular breeding. Their undesirable impacts have to be kept in view".
• Abiotic problem solving: The article was criticised heavily. Dr Swaminathan then responded - "GM tech is useful for solving abiotic problems like drought flood, salinity etc. It can help in biotic stresses also since new strains of pests arise regularly.”
• Problem with the above: Abiotic stress in crops is a big hazard, and is not the 1% category. Major science academies of the world have supported GM technology. A big paper in US in 2016 supported the idea that Bt in cotton and maize (1996 to 2015) contributed to reducing the gap between actual and potential yield, when pests caused major damage to non-GE varieties and chemical controls failed.
• Nobel laureates speak up: 107 laureates in 2016 wrote to Greenpeace challenging its anti-GMO technology stance. They claimed it was baseless, and harmful to poor people in developing world.
• Numbers: GM tech adoption has reduced pesticide use by 37%, increased crop yield by 22%, farmer profits by 68%. Yield gains are more for insect-resistant crops than for herbicide-tolerant crops. Developing nations had more yield gain than developed ones.
• Safe animals: More than 100 crore animals fed GM corn showed no hazards.
• Safe humans: People in Americas consuming Bt corn and soybean for 15 years haven't reported health hazards. Will govts. feed poisonous food to their people?
• Indian case: Bt cotton hasn't failed, with yields at 300 kg/ha when it arrived (2002) and now at 500 kg/ha. Where would we be without Bt cotton, that is a good question.
• Farmer distress: It has nothing to do with Bt cotton, as they continue growing it. Resistance development can be handled through Integrated Pest Management, and by stacking Bt genes to fight secondary pests. We need to rapidly build new Bt cotton types to pack densely in fields and increase yields to > 800 kh/ha (as in other nations).
• GM Mustard: DMH-11 is a tech to create mustard hybrids. Since mustard is a self-pollinator, it is tough to hybridise by normal methods. GM allows different parents to be combined easily. The herbicide glyphosate is used for hybrids selections only, and not for farmer fields. Its carcinogenic potential is not established.
• The 2010 Moratorium on Bt brinjal: It is unfortunate as without field trials, yields cannot be estimated. All R&D in transgenic crops is stymied now.
• Bangladesh went ahead: More than 6000 B'deshi farmers cultivated it in 2017. Illegal entry is possible anytime.
• Regulatory framework: Since India has a strong regulatory framework (for GM crops field trials), no point in blaming the GEAC (Genetic Engg Approval Committee) etc. GM is not a magic bullet. Bt gene should be deregulated, and Bt brinjal embargo lifted.
• Summary - There is a raging debate over suitability of GM foods in India, but a deeper analysis is needed before pronouncing any verdict.

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