Robert Skidelsky, the biographer of John Maynard Keynes, was in town recently, and he reminded us that inescapable uncertainty is the centrepiece of Keynes’ theory. Uncertainty is built into capitalism because the rewards of investment come later. Uncertainty is also a theme of the epic, Mahabharata, where the game of dice is a metaphor for uncertain and vulnerable human life. As if to prove this point, comes the heartbreaking story of Bt brinjal. Uncertainty usually arises in an entrepreneur’s life from the unpredictable responses of competitors in the marketplace, but in India, the largest risks still emanate from the government and its regulatory process.
The Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company, popularly called Mahyco, toiled for a decade to develop Bt brinjal, a genetically modified eggplant or aubergine. The company was founded in 1964 by BR Barwale, who received the World Food Prize in 1998 for his pioneering work in hybrid seeds, and today Monsanto holds a 26 per cent stake in it. Its scientists worked for years to find a solution to tackling the pest, brinjal fruit and shoot borer, which wipes out 30-40 per cent of India’s annual crop; they conducted 25 environmental bio-safety studies supervised by independent and government agencies to ensure that it had the same nutritional value and was compositionally identical to non-Bt brinjal; finally, they conducted rigorous field trials in collaboration with two Indian agricultural universities.
In October 2009, the invention was approved by the government’s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, which declared it safe and effective. Indian and international scientists hailed the innovation, saying that it would open doors to research on more popular foods like rice and wheat. However, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh stopped its introduction last month. He privileged the concerns of environmental groups that had opposed it on grounds of potential human and animal health, and biodiversity. In placing an indefinite “moratorium”, Ramesh adopted the precautionary principle, citing the need for more safety data, ignoring the verdict of his own scientists who had approved Bt brinjal after intensive trials according to well established protocol. He also questioned the logic of letting private companies drive biotechnology research in agriculture.
Ramesh’s decision is a tragic setback for Mahyco and other entrepreneurs as well as scientists who have invested years of research in this and other transgenic crops. He also introduced uncertainty in the entrepreneur’s life when he brought new considerations to bear in his decision which undermined the fundamental trust that is essential between the entrepreneur and the government. To question the role of private research after an entrepreneur works for 10 years in pre-agreed trials introduces the sort of unpredictability that is unacceptable in a stable, democratic order which is based on the rule of law rather than that of men.
As it is, the entrepreneur takes huge risks often in the face of insufficient knowledge. George Akerlof, Michael Spence and other economists have expanded on this idea, and traced it to “asymmetries of information” in the marketplace. To understand Mahyco’s unhappy situation, try to picture the look of shocked incomprehension on Yudhishthira’s face in the Mahabharata when he loses his kingdom and his wife in a rigged game of dice, and this happens at the very moment of his greatest triumph when he is consecrated “king of kings”. He can only suppose that his world has gone awry. The dice game is symbolic of the quixotic, vulnerable human condition in which one knows not why one is born, when one will die, and why one faces reverses on the way. His is a world where blindness is more than a physical flaw, where life is a game governed by deceptive rules, in which an innocent player is nevertheless pushed to the point of staking everything. The Mahabharata seeks an answer to this human dilemma in dharma and looks to the ruler to bring predictability in our lives.
Ramesh’s decision led to a huge outcry. On February 15, Agricultural minister Sharad Pawar wrote to the prime minister: “Varieties that have stood the strictest scrutiny of our very elaborate regulatory regime based on scientific analysis should be vigorously encouraged... Any hesitation on our part will set the clock back… It takes years of hard work and extraordinary scientific acumen to conduct research in these areas.” Pawar argued that the success of Bt cotton “needs to be replicated in food, fruit and vegetable crops to ensure long lasting food security”.
India’s farmers have reaped abundant rewards from Bt cotton. Their income and India’s cotton production have more than doubled in the past five years. Today, 80 per cent of India’s cotton acreage is planted with Bt cotton as India crossed the US in 2007-08 to become the world’s second-largest producer. Ramesh has argued that a food crop is not the same as cotton and requires far higher levels of safety. Critics have reminded him, however, that similar fears were voiced against Bt cotton, and indeed against hybrid wheat in the 1960s.
The protest against Ramesh’s decision was joined by other ministers, who called for a science-based approach to the problem rather than one based on emotion and fears. The PM called a meeting of the ministers concerned on February 24 to contain the damage. While the meeting did not overturn Ramesh’s decision, it did reverse Ramesh’s assumptions. Ramesh had questioned the logic of letting private companies drive biotechnology research in agriculture. The PM defended the importance of public private partnerships in agricultural R&D. When asked how long the moratorium would last, Ramesh said, “What is the hurry?” The PM pointed to the urgency and the need for a clear time-bound decision.
It is the duty of governments today to bring predictability to the uncertain lives of entrepreneurs. In Mahyco’s case, however, the government that was meant to create order became the source of uncertainty. There have been so many such examples in India recently, and this has shaken the confidence of investors. The ambiguous role of the telecom minister in continuing saga of the auctioning of 3G spectrum is well known. Equally disheartening is the experience of private entrepreneurs in dealing with the railways ministry. Encouraged to invest in freight movement, investors have discovered formidable hurdles placed in their way by the Railways. Unless the Bt brinjal decision is reversed quickly, it will undermine investors’ confidence and deny India’s agriculture the fruit of science that could usher a second green revolution.
The author has written “The Difficulty of Being Good: on the subtle art of dharma” (Penguin 2009).
This article smells of forced "story-lining" and pitches the minister against entrepreneurs, and completely regards substantive issues against GM crops. Commenters here have raised these issues (Agree with all the other comments here), e.g. Bt seeds being barren, problems with Bt cotton, and the fact that food and seed are core business and life-issues for many more entrepreneur-farmers than the one or two entrepreneurs that Mr. Das is concerned about. Come on Mr. Das, if you are debating the issue, can you taken on the "against" arguments more seriously!?
Dont you think Mr.Das your sympathies are misplaced , if you had a conscience you would feel sad for the millions of dispossessed people in this country who have been suffering due to take over of lands, dispossession , impoverishment , and not some rich companies whose mantra is quarter to quarter profit ..I am sure they ahve their own PR machinery to put out stuff!
Of course if you are paid by them , this is your job , in which case it should be mentioned somewhere!
Gurcharan Das is a world guru for CEOs but these are issues also concerning concerning "lowly" citizens and farmers.
Food is not an issue that needs to be looked from the entrepreneurs' perspective alone Sir. Consumers need to be given top priority followed by farmers.
Is he aware that the company behind these technologies has a dubious track record of bribing officials, politicians and scientists in so many countries.
He may not know that there are documented serious long term health issues associated with transgenic food.
Since he understands entrepreneurship so well .. I am sure he understands risk reward ratio. Transgenic foods offer very high risks in terms of consumer health, loss of diversity, strategic loss of seed ownership with very little potential reward in the medium to long term Sir. Also once this genie is out of the bottle it is impossible to put it back .. think parthenium grass and water haycinth.
Gurcharan says "it is the duty of governments today to bring predictability to the uncertain lives of entrepreneurs." I always thought it was the responsibility of governments to bring predictability (and safety) to the lives of a public assaulted by all manner of shady profiteers ranging from those who sell pesticides and / or risky technologies, to those who would enslave farmers.
This article has been overtaken by the reported failure of Bt cotton in the state of Gujarat and southern states yesterday.Furthermore why is Europe, all 27 countries, totally against genetically modified food and other crops?Why is Mr Swaminathan, our own scientist, the father of the first green revolution in India, totally against GM seeds and crops? We need a rational discussion and not a MEDIA BLITZ for and against a single minister.We are not discussing soap suds here Mr Das.Why should the Indian farmer buy seeds from a foreign company for the rest of his life. Are you aware that GM crops seeds are barren? The rest of america is going back to organic food and India which leads the world in such food should now abandon its knowledge in favour of WHAT? Have you recently eaten or tasted vegetables in USA? AWFUL IS THE WORD.All sensible people are going back to food being produced organically, naturally, in which art the Indian farmer is a master!!Time to reboot your data Mr Das.
Content Guide
