Learn from Bt cotton

FROM PLATE TO PLOUGH THE POLITICAL CLASS WILL HAVE TO KEEP DECISIONMAKING ON GM CROPS SCIENCE-BASED

- ASHOK GULATI & RITIKA JUNEJA

AS SOON AS the government took the decision to release India's first genetically modified (GM) food crop -Dhara Mustard  Hybrid-11 (DMH-11)-for 'environment release', some activists approached the Supreme Court seeking a ban on it for various reasons. The Supreme Court has ordered status quo till the next hearing, on November 17. The opposition to GM food crops is not new. There has been a global campaign by many activists. Yet, in reality, GM crops have spreading around the world since 1996. By 2019, roughly 190 million hectares were under GM crops, led by corn and soyabean in the US, Brazil, and Argentina, and canola (rapeseed/mustard) in Canada, with no harmful impact on human or animal health or environment per se (see infographics). There is ample evidence in support of that. Even Bangladesh has marched ahead with Bt brinjal. More than 70 countries have accepted use of GM crops.

We had our first GM crop, Bt cotton, released in 2002 by the Vajpayee government, who envisaged a science-led transformation of agriculture. He extended the original slogan of 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan' (salutations to the soldier and salutations to the farmer), given by Lal Bahadur Shastri, to include 'Jai Vigyan' (salutations to science).Are there any lessons from the Bt cotton decision for the case of mustard?