Centre says no to Bt brinjal

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh announced a moratorium on commercial Bt brinjal farming in India. “It is my duty to adopt a cautious, precautionary, principle-based approach till such time independent scientific studies establish to the satisfaction of both the public and professional the safety of the product,” he said. Significantly, he said that public opinion about the GM crop was influenced by the perception about Monsanto, which has been attracting suspicion for monopolizing the seed market and disregarding public health issues. The fate of Bt brinjal had looked uncertain from the day Ramesh decided to organize public hearings on the issue, thus giving an opportunity to the activists to televise their concerns and tilt the opinion their way. Bt brinjal was the first GM food crop to come before the government for clearance and another 40-odd applications for different GM food crops are listed to come up for approval in future. The minister said there was no over-riding concern of food security that would be addressed by introducing the world’s first GM vegetable into Indian farms.