Why India still remains in a state of confusion when it comes to GM crops

For now, India's GM crop landscape remains one of promise stalled by policy inertia, while scientific, commercial, and global trade pressures continue to mount

A lesser-known chapter in the life of MS Swaminathan, the chief architect of India’s Green Revolution, is his role in nudging the Vatican towards supporting genetically modified (GM) crops as a tool to fight global hunger.

 

As narrated in a recent biography by his niece Priyambada Jayakumar (MS Swaminathan: The Man Who Fed India), Swaminathan, while serving with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), met Pope John Paul II privately in 1982.  The pontiff, deeply troubled by drought-induced hunger in Africa, backed FAO’s efforts to tackle the crisis. 

His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, invited Swaminathan to the Vatican to