An anti-GM crop body today alleged that a consortium of seven farmers' bodies which has demanded commercialisation of genetically-modified (GM) crops, has a "dubious" background and that one of them was even a front organisation for the agro-chemical industry.
Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) said it is "strange" that these organisations are asking specifically for GM-based hybrids in the name of farmers without any proof that they have higher yields than CMS-based hybrids.
"Some organisations that are part of this umbrella network called Rashtriya Progressive Kisan Association have a dubious background as regards their primary interests, whether they exist to support farm livelihoods or to promote corporate interests," said Kavitha Kuruganti of ASHA.
"One of the organisations appears to have been a front organisation for the agro-chemical industry in promoting chemicals in the past and this in itself could be read as an indication of the real intent of GM crop developers and the agri-chemical industry of promoting the use of pesticides in the form of herbicides," Kuruganti said.
Anti-GM activists, including ASHA, have been opposing the approval for GM Mustard and have upped the ante against the "unscientific" appraisal process.
"It is strange that these organisations are asking specifically for GM-based hybrids in the name of farmers because there is no proof that GM-based hybrids are higher- yielding than CMS-based hybrids.
"These organisations should ask for proof for how GM- based hybrids are better, since GM mustard has not been tested against any other hybrids," Kuruganti said.
Rashtriya Progressive Kisan Association, a consortium of seven farmer organisations, has written to the Prime Minister demanding commercialisation of genetically modified (GM) mustard at the earliest.
The consortium favoured quick roll out of GM Mustard for farmers in arid and semi-arid regions and asked stakeholders to stop politicising the commercialisation of GM Mustard, which is currently under review with the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC).
She said more than 57 major farmer unions including
Bhartiya Kisan Union, Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, All India Kisan Sabha, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangh among others, have already come out against the approval of GM mustard.
More than 5 lakh beekeepers through the country, through the Confederation of Beekeeping Industry of India, have come out against the approval of GM mustard, she said.
"While yield is not the only thing that determines farmers' net profitability, even on the yield front, to ask specifically for GM hybrids appears that these organisations are a front for someone else, given that the higher yields that they are looking for can be obtained through other hybrids as well as other means," she said.
Biotech regulator GEAC had constituted a sub-committee to review the technical details and dossier related to environmental release of Genetically Engineered (GE) Mustard (Brassica juncea) hybrid DMH-11 and use of parental events (varuna bn 3.6 and EH2 mod bs 2.99) for development of new generation hybrids submitted by the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), University of Delhi, South Campus (UDSC), which had submitted its report.
The report was uploaded on the Ministry's website inviting comments from various stakeholders till October 5.
The Environment Ministry had received hundreds of comments from various stakeholders, including farmers and researchers, on the Assessment of Food and Environmental Safety (AFES) report on environmental release of Genetically Engineered Mustard.
The Ministry after evaluating all the comments, had forwarded it to the a sub-committee which after studying it will submit its final report to the biotech regulator Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC).
