While a second company, Rasi seeds, has got the green signal to produce Bt cotton seeds in one lakh hectares for Kharif 2004, the apex body responsible for clearing GM crops has re-asserted that it is their mandate to determine whether genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are economically viable or not. The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) today decided to include an agro-economist in one of the monitoring committees ignoring the dissenting voices that say: ‘Just clear the gene for bio-safety and let farmers decide on the economic viability of the hybrid.’ The logic given by the GEAC is that the farmers are too gullible and will come to the government if the transgenic seeds fail to justify their higher costs. In their 37th meeting today, they also noted ‘‘with concern’’ reports that appeared in The Indian Express about the illegal Bt seeds in Gujarat and have decided to send the samples containing unapproved Bt seeds to the Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur. ‘‘Before taking any legal action, we need to collect proof first,’’ said V K Duggal, chaiman GEAC. He has also written to the Chief Secretary of Gujarat to initiate action against these companies under the Environment Protection Act and the Seed Act. With clearance for seed production, Rasi seeds will become the second company after Mahyco to sell their seeds commercially. Since the company has used the same CryIAC gene as Mahyco and intricate tests have been carried out for bio-safety over years, the GEAC concluded that no further tests were required. However, the committee said that ‘‘the trials conducted by the company and ICAR are not conclusive and therefore commercialisation cannot be permitted at this stage.’’ While one hybrid will go for seed production, the other four for which clearances had been sought would go for another round of field trials in central and south India conducted by the ICAR. ‘‘Since RCH2 hybrid which is a direct derivative of the already released RCH2 non Bt hybrid in 1999, seed production has been allowed in 1 lakh hectares,’’ said a statement from GEAC justifying why one hybrid be given permission for seed production. ‘‘This is conditional. If the hybrid fails to perform, they have to destroy it,’’ said Duggal. The committee also concluded that in view of the varying agro-climatic conditions, the performance of Bt cotton cannot be established based on one year data. In Kharif 2002, six committees constituted by the Ministry visited some of Bt cotton fields. Their feedback was that it was satisfactory in terms of bollworm infestation and reduction in use of pesticide spray. But for any conclusive statement on its viability, they would have to study it for at least three years. For Kharif 2003, the Ministry has constituted a Committee to lay down the ground rules for monitoring and verification mechanism for assessment of Bt cotton. The committee has suggested that training of field level officers involved in the monitoring to be taken up, an agro economist included to evaluate the economic benefits of Bt cotton versus non-Bt and stake-holder meetings with farmers and NGOs organised for better understanding of the transgenic crops. As far as potatoes are concerned, the GEAC clarified no request for trials/commercial release has been made as yet. The secretary of department of Biotechnology Manju Sharma had been quoted as saying that transgenic potatoes are just six months away.
