The Association of Biotech-Led Industries-Agriculture Group (ABLE-AG) has expressed concern over the 10-year blanket ban on field trials of genetically-modified crops as had been proposed by a technical expert committee (TEC) set up by the Supreme Court.
“Imposing a 10 year ban on field testing will bring all the on going research in both public and private institutes to a standstill. It will open the flood gates to fly-by-night operators to smuggle in GM seeds from all over the globe and sell them underhand to Indian farmers,” said N. Seethar-ama, executive director of Able-AG. Mr Seetharama made the point that already large quantities of edible oil from Canada, Argentina and Brazil are being imported and sold in the country. “This oil is known to be extracted from GM crops. Why should the government permit imports without allowing local farmers to grow the same GM oil seeds within the country ?” asked Mr Seetharama.
Trials of GM crops are being conducted across leading institutes including the Indian Agricult-ural Research Institute, the Indian Institute of Horticultural Science, Bengaluru, the directorate of oil seed research, Hyderabad, and a number of rice institutes attached to different universities. The association claims that the Indian regulatory process is one of the most stringent in the world with India following both Codex and OECD guidelines adding that if the recommendations of TEC were implemented, it would adversely impact farmers growing Bt cotton.