Image used for representation (File Photo)



NEW DELHI: The Coalition for a GM Free India , an umbrella body of several farmer groups, and a number of civil society members have jointly requested all political parties to incorporate their demands of imposing an indefinite moratorium on ‘environmental release’ and ‘trials’ of genetically/living modified organisms (GMOs/LMOs) in their respective manifestos.

The other demands of the Coalition, which has been campaigning against genetically engineered crops in the country for long, include imposing ban on environmentally hazardous herbicides Glyphosate and Glufosinate and legislating a robust biosafety protection law which could prioritise India’s biosafety and biodiversity and also implement the moratorium on GMOs/LMOs.

Currently, the Bt Cotton is the only transgenic variety of crop which is used in India. It was allowed for commercial cultivation in 2002. Though the country’s central regulator had given its clearance for commercial release of Bt Brinjal in 2009, the then government had put an indefinite moratorium on it the next year.

Demanding similar moratorium on any GMO/LMO, pending independent and rigorous biosafety risk assessment and regulation, the Coalition also urged political parties to pledge holding national consultations and a parliamentary debate to formulate policy on “means to establish and incentivize agro-ecological systems of farming in India”

“This has already been shared with BJP and Congress manifesto committee members and is being shared with other political parties as well,” said Kavitha Kuruganti, co-convenor of the Coalition, while referring to the demands.

The Coalition and civil society groups put these demands as their joint pledge where they argued to take this up to protect “farming and food from irreversible GMO/LMO contamination” in India.

Though the government has so far not allowed environmental or commercial release of any GM food crop in the country, it had on several occasions defended its decision to do so in case of Bt Cotton (non-food crop) arguing that the move had helped in substantially increasing production and productivity of cotton in India.

According to agriculture ministry, the productivity of cotton increased from 191 kg per hectare in 2002-03 to 477 kg per hectare in 2017-18 and its production has been increased from 86.21 lakh bales in 2002-03 to 348.88 lakh bales in 2017-18 “due to adoption of Bt Cotton” in the country.

Though the central regulator - Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) - had also given its nod for environmental release and cultivation of GM mustard, the government has, so far, not given its final clearance.

