Govt reviewing US demand for less curbs on GM crop imports

INDIA IS ANALYSING a US request to ease restrictions around the purchase of genetically modified crops as part of ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries, people aware of the matter said.

- SHRUTI SRIVASTAVA & PRATIK PARIJA

The US administration has been pushing India for greater access for its agricultural goods, seeing the world's most populous nation as a vast untapped market. It is particularly eager to export GM corn and soyabeans, they said, asking not to be identified as the information isn't public. The two crops are the biggest US farm exports by volume, and GM varieties account for the vast majority of the nation's output.