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Swapan Kumar Datta, Deputy Director-General of Indian the Council of Agricultural Research, has said investments are suffering as the country wavers on GM research.
Scientific community, agricultural research companies and research bodies are in a state of confusion as decisions on GM research are delayed inordinately, he said.
“It has been two years since the GEAC met. The decisions taken at the only meeting held early this year have been put on hold. Young researchers in scientific institutions are asking what is happening. Investments are suffering,” he told Business Line .
Swapan Datta, who is also a member of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), has taken a strong objection to the inordinate delay in allowing or not allowing GM research in the country.
“We should debate whether to accept it or not. We can’t keep on putting on hold the decisions. We should discuss how best we can address the challenges,” he said.
Datta, a GM scientist himself taking up research on rice, was here to attend a global meet on bacterial blight in rice.
GM research in food crops
The Government had put on hold the decisions taken at the last GEAC meeting, keeping in view the strong public outcry over GM research in food crops. The minutes, which were put on the GEAC site, were withdrawn within no time.
Datta said the country could not differentiate between food and non-food crops and allow GM research in non-food crops. “If it is good in one crop, it is good for all. If it is not good, it is not good for all crops,” he said.
The votaries of GM technology site the example of GM cotton and argue that GM should be allowed in all crops, including food crops. But the proposal to introduce GM trait in brinjal had evoked strong public outcry, forcing the Government to put a cap on GM research.
The last GEAC meeting, however, allowed certain field trials in castor, rice, maize wheat and cotton, triggering sharp protests. On the other hand, the agricultural research companies are arguing that they have lost two years of research cycle because of delay in getting permission.
The GM crops are designed to offer protection against certain insects, have more resistance to water salinity, and use nitrogen they need to grow more efficiently.
>kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in
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