India’s top agricultural scientists blasted the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) report which had asked for an indefinite moratorium on field trials of Bt Transgenics.
These scientists claimed that 17.3 million farmers in 29 countries are growing biotech crops on over 170 million hectares of land while another 31 countries are presently importing biotech crops for food and food use.
Dr C.D. Mayee, vice-chancellor of the Marathwada Agricultural University, who works closely with farmers in Vidarbha said 89 per cent of the farmers would like to continue with BT cotton. “BT cotton has helped reduce sprays from 16 to 5 and several farmers are presently managing to grow two successive crops thereby enhancing their income,” said Dr Mayee in defence of BT crops.
Dr Deepak Pental questioned the lack of scientific data in the report. “The technical report is an ideological and not a scientific document…. they (scientists who put together the report) have taken an ideological stance which is to keep multinationals out,” he said. With Indian agriculture having grown at 3.5 per cent in the last two five year plans and is expected to grow at four per cent in the current Twelfth Five Year Plan, Dr Pental questioned what the nation’s vision was for Indian agriculture. “How can we increase the farmer’s income?” he asked.
He also came down heavily on the way the ministry of environment has handled the Genetically Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC). “Why are the minutes of the GEAC (meetings) being signed by the environment minister?”
He was also critical of the way in which a GEAC report was removed from the ministry website soon after it was uploaded.
Dr K.C. Bansal, director of National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, claimed that GM crops did not result in a loss of biodiversity, especially since India possessed the third largest gene bank in the world.
“The BT toxin is designed to kill only the bolwell and will not kill the honey bee, as is being wrongly misinterpreted,” he said.
These scientists maintain that biotech crops increase farmers’ income and between 1996-2011, global farm income gains from biotechnology rose by $ 98 billion.