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Harish Damodaran

`The variety was not required for small, marginal farms here'

New Delhi , Nov.10

The All India Rice Exporters Association's (AIREA) opposition to introduction of genetically modified (GM) rice may seem a strange case of an industry body making common cause with green groups.

But this is not the first time such a development has taken place. Only five years ago, there was a similar instance of the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) blocking the US life sciences major Monsanto's efforts to bring in GM soyabean to the country. Then too, the opposition was on grounds that GM technology could hamper exports.

AIREA's point is that allowing the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) to even test transgenic paddy — incorporating an alien Cry1Ac gene isolated from a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, to confer resistance against the brown plant hopper insect pest — would undermine the status of the country being a `GM-free' rice exporter.

Impact on exports

This is more so with regard to basmati, where even the slightest perception of contamination by GM varieties could impact its carefully cultivated niche image in the world market.

During 2005-06, the country shipped out 11.61 lakh tonnes (lt) of basmati valued at Rs 3,030.32 crore.

Chemical's potency

In the case of soyabean, Monsanto had, in early-2001, obtained permission to import some of its GM lines, genetically engineered to resist its own `Roundup' (glyphosate) herbicide. While spraying gluphosate on normal soyabean ends up destroying the crop along with the weeds, the GM `Roundup-resistant' lines confine the chemical's potency to just the weeds.

"We opposed GM soyabean because holdings here are small and farmers do weeding manually. So, you don't really require new-generation herbicides or herbicide-resistant soyabean. These varieties have relevance only in the US or Brazil, where fields are huge and farming operations, including weeding, are fully mechanised," said Mr Rajesh Agarwal, former Chairman, SOPA.

Besides, he noted, there was enough scope for even doubling yields from the existing 900-1,000 kg per hectare without taking recourse to GM technology. "To raise yields, farmers need to only to plant proper certified seeds and increase the seed replacement rate from the current 10 per cent," he added.

But of no less concern again was the fact that Indian soyabean meal commanded a premium, particularly in Europe and Japan, by virtue of it being `GM-free'. During 2005-06, 34.95 lt of soyameal worth Rs 3,407.63 crore were exported. With the entire soyameal export industry against GM soybean, Monsanto was forced to go slow on a product that would have generated revenues from sale of both seed as well as herbicide.

More Stories on : Oilseeds & Edible Oil | Bio-tech & Genetics

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