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Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Sunday said he supports the use of high quality seeds for sustainable increase in crop productivity and farmers' income and does not advocate genetically modified (GM) crops.
The agriculture ministry issued the clarification amid reports that Singh favoured GM crops during the 'Indian Seed Congress' organised last week in Agra.
"Some newspapers have published that the agriculture minister has advocated giving filip to GM crops at the inaugural session of the event on Friday. This is factually wrong. In fact, the minister talked about increasing farmers income and sustainable increase in productivity is closely linked to supply of quality seeds," said a statement issued by the ministry.
"The GM crop issue did not feature in the minister's speech as the matter is sub-judice in the Supreme Court. The minister mentioned about Bt cotton in the speech to inform that this was the only GM crop which is viable and grown for last 10 years," the statement said.
On Friday, the agriculture ministry had issued a statement quoting Singh's speech made in Agra, "Apart from increased productivity to produce more from less input including water and land, the losses that occur because of droughts, floods, salinity, biotic and other abiotic stresses also need to be eliminated decisively through the adoption of appropriate technologies. In this context, genetic engineering holds great promise."
"Bt cotton in Gujarat and other states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has clearly demonstrated what these new technologies can do to enhance farmer incomes...," he had said in the statement.
The government has so far permitted commercial cultivation of BT cotton but imposed moratorium on commercial release of Bt brinjal in February 2010 due to concerns aired by green activists.
Part of the National Democratic Alliance government, right wing-affiliated groups - the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh have also expressed opposition to GM crops.
