The Indian agricultural scientific community on Monday appealed to the government to clear the transgenic mustard variety that received a nod from the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) recently.
The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), a professional body of 650 top agricultural scientists in the country, called for an immediate environmental release of the GM mustard variety, DMH-11, so that the coming growing season could be used for the multiplication of parental lines and production of hybrid seeds.
“Having fully met the regulatory, biosafety and performance requirements, a biotech product must not be denied to the farmers, who should have options to make informed choices,” said a resolution passed at the 24th annual general meeting of the academy, here.
The GEAC, in its meeting on May 11, recommended that the transgenic crop can be approved for commercial release. The final decision, however, has to be taken by Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan.
The transgenic mustard variety, developed by a team of researchers led by geneticist and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Delhi Deepak Pental, was at the heart of a controversy, with several farmer associations and civil society movements alleging that the approval process has lacked transparency. Among those that have objected to its commercial release is Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a body affiliated to the Sangh Parivar.
According to the scientists, mustard, which is grown over an area of 6.6 million hectares in India, is an important oilseed crop for the country. Increasing its production is critical as India currently meets 60 per cent of its edible oil demand through imports, NAAS president Punjab Singh told mediapersons in the presence of Pental and Indian Council of Agricultural Science chief Trilochan Mohapatra.
India currently shells out ₹80,000 crore for edible oil imports alone, the scientists said. They argued that biosafety concerns and environmental impact of the transgenic crop coming from various quarters were unfounded.
They also said that the GM crop would have no impact on the honey bee population, as feared by bee growers.
The Academy is deeply concerned about unscientific and ill-motivated interpretations on the use of GM mustard hybrid, the resolution said.
The scientists also expressed confidence that once the GM technology was approved for use, Indian scientists were capable of developing mustard hybrids with better yields and canola-kind quality in future.