With the Centre strongly favouring the genetically modified crops (GM crops), the Supreme Court today refused to impose an interim ban on their field trials despite the court-appointed expert committee recommending the ban.

The government pleaded that recommendation of the Apex court-appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) for banning field trials of the GM crops be rejected as the use of biotechnology in agriculture can bring second green revolution in the country.

“Revolution has been saturated at the producer and consumer level and the methods of conventional breeding are showing very marginal increase in yield. Further, the use of inputs like fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation schemes is expensive and unsustainable. Hence biotechnology could bring in a second green revolution,” the Centre said.

Appearing before a Bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, the Attorney General G E Vahanvati contended that field trial should be allowed to go on as the demand of food for growing population could be met only through the GM crops.

“...bearing in mind the far reaching implications of this matter on food security and the pressing requirement of continuation of the ongoing research on application of GM technology in improving agriculture productivity and production, it is humbly prayed that the proposed recommendation of the interim report of TEC to impose ban on field trials should be rejected outright,” the Centre said in its affidavit.

The anti-GM activists, however, pleaded with the apex court to ban field trials as per the TEC’s recommendation as it can cause irreversible damage to the environment.

The Bench, however, said it will not ban trial of GM crops and would wait for the final report of the Committee and asked TEC to submit the same in six weeks.

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